Donated  to 

LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 


A   ROOM    IN   MR.  SCOTT'S   LABORATORY  AT   PRINCETON. 

Frontispiece 


THE 


STORY  OF  A  BIRD  LOVER 


BY 

WILLIAM    EARL   DODGE   SCOTT 


NEW  YORK 

THE  OUTLOOK   COMPANY 
1903 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


COPYRIGHT,  1903,  BY 
THE  OUTLOOK  COMPANY. 

Published  March,  1903. 
Reprinted  March,  1903. 


J.  8.  Cuihing  &  Co.  -  Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 
Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


THIS  STORY  IS  DEDICATED 

TO    THE    MEMORY   OF 

LEWIN    WETHERED     BARRINGER 

ONE  OF  MANY  FRIENDS  WHO  LOVED   THE 
WOODS  AND  WATERS  OF  FLORIDA 


CONTENTS 

PACK 

I.  CHILDHOOD        .       .       .  .       .       .       •  i 

II.  YOUTH        .        .        .       .  .       .       .       .        .21 

III.  STUDENT  DAYS  .        .        .  .       .        .        .        -35 

IV.  FIRST  PROFESSIONAL  WORK  .       .       .       .       .      58 
V.  PRINCETON                        • 79 

VI.  THE  PLAINS  AND  COLORADO     .        .       .        .        .    107 

VII.  FLORIDA:  THE  GULF  COAST     .       .       .       ;        .140 

VIII.  THE  SEA  AND  THE  DESERT      ...  .    179 

IX.  SOUTHERN  ARIZONA  .        .        .        .       .        .       .    209 

X.  THE  GULF  COAST  OF  FLORIDA        .       .       .        .253 

XI.  FLORIDA  PRAIRIES  AND  VIRGINIA  MOUNTAINS         .    284 

XII.  XAYMACA:  THE  ISLAND  OF  MANY  RIVERS       .        .    291 

XIII.  BIRD  LIFE  IN  ENGLAND 335 

XIV.  THE  NATURALIST'S  VISION 340 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 369 


vii 


INTRODUCTORY   NOTE 

IT  is  not  merely  the  fact  that  the  author  of  this  book 
is  recognized  by  ornithologists  as  one  of  the  foremost 
experts  in  America  as  regards  the  life  and  habits  of 
birds  that  has  led  the  publishers  to  urge  him  to  write 
this  biography  of  a  bird  lover.  Neither  is  it  chiefly 
the  fact  that  his  favorite  study  has  led  him  into  many 
not  well-known  parts  of  the  country,  where  his  experi- 
ences, personal  and  scientific,  have  been  curious  and 
interesting.  It  is  rather  because  Mr.  Scott  in  quite  an 
unusual,  perhaps  even  unique,  degree  has  brought  the 
life  of  birds  nearer  to  the  life  of  man  —  has  established, 
so  to  speak,  personal  relationships  with  the  whole  bird 
kingdom. 

A  visit  to  Princeton,  where  Mr.  Scott  occupies  the 
post  of  Curator  of  the  Department  of  Ornithology  in 
the  University,  and  a  few  hours  spent  with  his  remark- 
able collection  of  live  birds,  would  show  clearly  what  is 
meant.  Here,  in  a  "  laboratory  "  forming  part  of  his 
own  house,  are  in  six  rooms  about  five  hundred  live 
birds,  native  and  foreign.  No  small  part  of  the  author's 
time  and  all  the  time  of  an  assistant  are  spent  in  caring 
for  these  birds  and  in  studying  them.  The  collection 
has  not  been  made  for  the  ordinary  purposes  of  an 
aviary,  —  that  is,  to  teach  and  please  a  multitude  of 
visitors,  —  but  is  primarily  designed  for  the  purpose 
of  conducting  investigation  that  may  lead  to  a  better 


x  INTRODUCTORY   NOTE 

understanding  of  birds  out-of-doors  and  the  problems 
which  their  life  presents. 

In  a  recent  article  Mr.  Scott  said,  "  I  think  that  in 
every  community  there  are  enough  people  interested  in 
out-of-door  life  to  cooperate  in  a  movement  to  establish 
a  kindly  relation  with  wild  creatures."  This  is  the  key- 
note of  his  work  and  his  life,  and  it  is  because  the  pub- 
lishers of  this  book  have  felt  that  all  the  men  and 
women  who  love  nature  —  bird  nature  as  well  as  human 
nature  —  should  know  of  the  growth  and  causes  of  this 
desire  to  understand  the  ways  and  characters  of  the 
birds  —  for  birds  have  individual  as  well  as  tribal  char- 
acteristics —  that  Mr.  Scott  has  been  asked  to  tell  how, 
step  by  step,  he  acquired  his  knowledge,  through  obser- 
vation, out-of-doors  exploration,  training  of  the  senses, 
and  (but  in  less  degree)  through  books  and  tuition. 

Mr.  Scott  is  a  graduate  of  Harvard,  where  he  was  a 
pupil  of  Louis  Agassiz.  In  spite  of  a  lameness  which 
compels  him  to  walk,  even  in  the  house,  with  caution 
and  with  the  aid  of  a  cane,  he  has  travelled  all  over  the 
United  States,  pursuing  his  study  of  the  life  and  char- 
acter of  the  bird  in  its  out-of-door,  natural  surroundings. 
Not  one  of  the  least  interesting  things  about  his  achieve- 
ment is  the  fact  that  a  physical  impediment  which  would 
be  considered  by  many  people  to  be  an  almost  insu- 
perable obstacle  in  his  path  as  a  naturalist,  has  really 
turned  out  to  be  an  advantage  and  aid.  He  is  the 
author  of  numerous  scientific  papers  and  of  a  compre- 
hensive and  elaborately  printed  and  illustrated  work  on 
birds  entitled  "Bird  Studies."  He  lays  great  stress 
on  the  principle  that  sympathy  and  love  of  the  beautiful 
are  bound  to  come  through  a  friendship  established  with 
any  kind  of  organic  life,  whether  that  organic  life  be  a 


INTRODUCTORY   NOTE  xi 

plant  or  an  animal.  Thus,  he  says  :  "  The  moment  you 
establish  a  friendship  with  a  plant,  care  for  it  and  min- 
ister to  its  needs,  you  feel  that  it  is  dependent  on  you, 
and  you  have  a  different  attitude  toward  it  altogether; 
you  do  not  want  any  one  to  harm  it,  and  it  hurts  you 
even  to  break  off  a  twig  unnecessarily.  How  much 
more  will  this  be  the  case  if  you  establish  a  relationship 
with  a  live  bird,  or  any  animal  ?  As  soon  as  you  grow 
fond  of  a  particular  dog  or  horse,  you  can  never  kick 
any  dog  or  abuse  any  horse ;  and  I  think  that  the 
human  side  of  this  whole  study  is  perhaps  its  most 
important  part.  The  study  of  birds  develops  every 
kind  of  aesthetic  sensibility ;  it  is  a  pleasure  and  a  bene- 
fit to  see  the  beauty  of  their  coloring,  the  grace  and 
ease  of  their  motions,  and  to  hear  the  sweetness  of  their 
song ;  and  when  this  is  awakened  in  you,  the  more 
vital  elements  of  love,  sympathy,  and  helpfulness  will 
naturally  follow." 

THE  PUBLISHERS. 


THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD  LOVER 


CHAPTER   I 

CHILDHOOD 

ONCE  upon  a  time  a  little  boy  saw  a  cat  which 
had  just  killed  a  bird  in  the  garden.  By  the  time 
the  boy  caught  the  cat  and  rescued  the  remnants 
of  the  bird,  there  was  little  left  but  a  wing,  and 
this  became  a  child's  plaything  for  a  few  passing 
hours.  The  boy  lost  the  wing,  but  something 
remained,  —  a  picture  so  graphic,  that  many  years 
afterward,  when  near  manhood,  he  suddenly  real- 
ized that  the  wing  he  had  rescued  from  the  cat 
long  ago  was  that  of  the  winter  wren. 

Looking  back,  this  is  the  first  definite  impres- 
sion of  a  bird  that  I  can  recall. 

The  winter  wren  is  one  of  the  smallest,  shyest, 
and  most  seclusive  of  the  migrants  that  visit  the 
region  about  New  York  and  New  Jersey  in  the 
spring  and  fall.  Stealthy  and  mouselike  in  its 
habit,  it  is  fond  of  old  stone  walls,  where  it  crawls 
in  and  out  through  the  crevices,  never  making 
long  or  protracted  flights.  It  is  a  short,  thick- 


2  THE   STORY   OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

set  little  bird,  with  an  abbreviated  tail ;  its  colors 
are  charming;  blacks  and  browns  and  chestnuts 
are  barred  in  a  very  effective  manner ;  otherwise 
there  is  nothing  particularly  remarkable  or  charac- 
teristic in  its  appearance  or  manner.  During  the 
migrations  the  notes  are  insignificant,  but  while 
mating  and  nesting  the  male  birds  sing  constantly, 
rivalling  many  songsters  more  famous. 

Brooklyn  was  little  more  than  a  village  in  1852, 
the  year  when  I  was  born,  and  all  the  country  back 
of  the  City  Hall  was  open,  fields  and  farms;  the 
Heights  south  of  Wall  Street  ferry  sloped  down 
in  a  green  bank  to  New  York  Bay,  and  Bedford 
and  Coney  Island  were  remote  points  where  we 
went  for  excursions  to  the  country.  It  was  a 
village  with  a  volunteer  fire  department,  and  no 
general  water  or  sewer  system.  There  was  a 
public  pump  in  the  street  nearly  opposite  where 
we  lived,  to  which  all  the  neighbors  went  for 
water,  —  a  centre  of  gossip  and  news. 

I  said  that  the  winter  wren  was  the  first  bird 
that  definitely  impressed  me;  but  long  before  that 
I  have  a  distinct  recollection  of  a  lively  interest  in 
animals.  One  day  (I  could  not  have  been  more 
than  four  years  old,  for  my  father  died  when  I  was 
not  quite  five)  I  was  called  into  a  bedroom  up- 
stairs, where  I  found  my  father  and  mother. 
My  father  had  taken  the  corner  of  the  rug  which 
covered  the  floor  and  had  rolled  it  up  so  that  one 


CHILDHOOD 


end  of  the  roll  was  held  in  each  hand;  he  told 
me  to  watch  while  he  slowly  unrolled  it.  As  I 
looked  intently,  I  saw  a  mouse,  trembling  with 
fear,  standing  perfectly  still  for  an  instant  on 
the  corner  of  the  rug,  where  it  had  been  im- 
prisoned. 

Once  before  this  —  it  seems  to  me  long  before 
—  we  were  at  Clifton  Springs,  New  York,  when, 
taking  a  drive  with  my  father  and  mother,  a  red 
squirrel  ran  along  a  stone  wall  or  fence.  This  at 
once  excited  me.  My  father  had  a  gun,  and  step- 
ping from  the  carriage,  killed  the  squirrel,  which 
I  was  very  anxious  to  get  into  my  hands  to  look 
at  more  closely.  He  examined  it  for  a  moment, 
and  for  some  reason,  not  caring  to  have  me 
handle  the  dead  creature,  but  still  not  wishing 
to  disappoint  me  too  much,  he  took  out  his 
knife,  cut  off  the  bushy  tail,  and  gave  it  to  me. 
I  know  it  was  a  red  squirrel  because  I  know 
exactly  how  it  looked,  —  the  colors,  the  definite 
dark  stripe  on  its  side,  —  in  fact,  the  whole  scene 
is  clear  in  my  mind.  Even  the  knife  I  often 
picture  to  myself;  and  only  a  few  years  ago  I 
described  it  to  a  cousin,  much  older  than  I,  and 
asked  him  if  he  could  recall  it.  It  was  large,  hav- 
ing a  long  blade  and  white  bone  handle  which  was 
stained  yellow  with  age,  and  the  blade  had  a  curi- 
ous, out-curved  point.  When  I  had  mentioned  it 
to  my  cousin,  he  told  me  that  he  remembered  per- 


4  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

fectly  such  a  knife  that  my  father  had  carried  for 
years. 

My  father  was  a  graduate  of  West  Point  His 
family  were  New  Jersey  people ;  my  grandfather 
and  great-grandfather  had  long  lived  in  the  town 
of  New  Brunswick.  The  personality  of  Joseph 
Warren  Scott,  my  grandfather,  is  still  remembered 
by  some  of  the  older  people  of  New  Brunswick, 
though  he  has  been  dead  many  years.  His  reputa- 
tion as  a  lawyer  is  not  merely  local.  He  was  a  grad- 
uate of  Princeton,  and  a  scholar  of  parts.  His 
Greek  Testament  I  always  associate  with  him. 
At  the  installation  of  Dr.  McCosh  as  president  of 
Princeton  in  1868,  my  grandfather  was  present, 
the  oldest  graduate,  representing  the  class  of  1795. 

His  father,  my  great-grandfather,  was  Moses 
Scott,  a  surgeon  in  the  Revolutionary  army,  a 
member  of  General  Washington's  staff  and  his 
intimate  friend.  My  grandfather  often  told  me 
of  the  first  time  he  saw  General  Washington.  He 
said  he  was  playing  in  front  of  his  father's  house 
shortly  after  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War, 
and  he  must  have  been  some  ten  years  old.  A 
gentleman  rode  up  on  horseback,  unaccompanied, 
and  there  being  no  one  else  in  the  street,  he  asked 
the  boy  if  he  knew  whether  Dr.  Scott  was  at  home. 
My  grandfather  answered  that  he  was  away  on 
a  professional  visit,  and  the  gentleman  then  said, 
"  My  boy,  go  into  the  house,  and  if  Mrs.  Scott  is 


CHILDHOOD  5 

at  home,  say  that  General  Washington  will  do 
himself  the  honor  of  paying  his  respects  to  her." 
Dr.  Moses  Scott,  my  great-grandfather,  was  present 
in  many  of  the  battles  of  the  Revolutionary  War, 
notably  the  battle  of  Princeton,  where  he  assisted 
General  Mercer  when  mortally  wounded.  For 
General  Joseph  Warren,  an  intimate  friend,  he 
named  his  son  Joseph  Warren  Scott. 

Grandfather  Scott's  place  in  New  Brunswick 
is  about  a  mile  from  the  station,  a  little  back 
from  the  Raritan  River,  the  canal  and  high- 
way running  between  that  stream  and  the  front 
of  the  place.  It  is  a  farm  of  some  eighty  acres. 
A  picturesque,  winding  roadway  (laid  out  by  my 
father  and  always  known  as  the  "  lane  ")  leads  up 
to  the  house,  which  stands  at  quite  an  elevation, 
having  an  extensive  river  and  champaign  view. 
The  farm  is  known  as  "  Buccleuch."  This  house 
was  built  long  before  the  Revolutionary  days,  and 
is  a  type  of  the  colonial  mansion  of  the  time,  —  a 
spacious  building  with  hipped  roof,  the  gable  ends 
broken  by  dormer  and  fan  windows.  It  is  appar- 
ently a  wooden  house,  painted  white  with  green 
blinds.  I  said  apparently  a  wooden  house,  for 
the  walls  are  lined  and  built,  inside  of  the  wooden 
cover,  of  tiny  bricks  that  were  brought  from 
Holland  late  in  1600  or  early  in  1700.  These 
bricks  are  about  half  as  big  as  the  ordinary  build- 
ing brick  of  to-day.  Broad  verandas  extend  along 


6  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD  CLOVER 

both  sides,  the  front  and  entrance  of  the  house 
being  away  from  the  river. 

The  ground  floor  of  the  house  is  divided  by  a 
hall  some  eighteen  feet  wide  and  perhaps  forty- 
five  feet  long.  The  office  that  my  grandfather 
used  for  his  professional  work  is  just  to  the  right 
as  one  enters  the  front  door,  and  there  is  also  a 
side  entrance  to  this  office.  His  law  and  reference 
books  are  piled  on  the  shelves  to-day  much  as  he 
left  them.  Very  different  from  similar  books  of 
the  present  time,  they  are  small,  and  thick  in  pro- 
portion, and  their  leather  covers  are  black  with 
age.  A  door  at  the  other  end  of  the  hall,  opposite 
the  entrance,  leads  to  a  wide  piazza  overlooking 
the  river. 

On  the  same  side  of  the  hall  with  the  office  is 
a  large  parlor,  and  on  the  east  wall  in  this  parlor 
hangs  my  great-grandfather's  commission  as  a 
member  of  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati.  It  seems 
of  sufficient  interest  to  quote  here  verbatim :  — 

BE  IT  KNOWN  that  Moses  Scott,  Surgeon  General,  New  Jersey, 
and  Director-General  of  the  Medical  Department  United  States, 
is  a  member  of  the  Cincinnati,  instituted  by  the  officers  of  the 
American  Army  at  the  period  of  Dissolution,  as  well  to  com- 
memorate the  great  events  which  gave  Independence  to  North 
America,  as  for  the  laudable  purpose  of  inculcating  the  Duty  of 
laying  down  in  Peace,  Arms  assumed  for  public  Defence,  and 
of  uniting  in  Acts  of  brotherly  Affection,  and  Bonds  of  perpetual 
Friendship,  the  members  constituting  the  Same. 

IN  TESTIMONY  WHEREOF,  I  the  President  of  said  Society,  here- 


CHILDHOOD  7 

unto  set  my  hand  at  Mount  Vernon,  in  the  State  of  Virginia, 
this  24th  Day  of  May,  in  the  year  of  Our  Lord  One  Thousand, 
Seven  hundred  and  eighty-four,  and  in  the  Eighth  year  of  the 
Independence  of  the  United  States. 

By  Order  GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  President. 

KNOX,  Secretary. 

The  parchment  on  which  this  is  written  is  yel- 
low, and  the  writing  faded  with  time. 

The  library  faces  the  parlor  on  the  other  side 
of  the  hall,  both  rooms  having  a  view  of  the  river. 
Back  of  the  library  is  the  dining  room,  and  lead- 
ing away  from  it,  a  wing  contains  the  kitchen  and 
offices.  To  the  left  of  the  doorway  a  broad,  oak 
stairway  ascends  by  short  ranges  of  easy-rising 
steps,  forming  three  spacious  landings  on  the  way 
upward.  During  the  Revolutionary  War  this 
house  was  occupied  both  by  the  Colonial  and 
British  forces.  The  Hessian  soldiery  who  were 
quartered  here  at  one  time  did  a  very  considerable 
amount  of  wanton  damage.  The  rail  of  the  stair- 
way is  marked  with  the  hacks  of  their  sabres, 
and  the  imprint  of  the  muzzles  of  their  muskets 
is  still  plainly  visible  on  many  of  the  steps. 

As  a  boy,  the  halls  interested  me  enormously ; 
they  had  been  papered  with  such  wall  paper  as  I 
have  never  seen  elsewhere.  The  entrance  hall 
portrayed  a  vista  of  Paris,  apparently  ranged 
along  the  Seine,  with  ladies  and  gentlemen  prom- 
enading the  banks,  and  all  the  notable  buildings, 


8  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

the  Pantheon,  Notre  Dame,  and  many  more  dis- 
tributed in  the  scene,  the  river  running  in  front. 
But  it  was  when  I  reached  the  second  story  that 
my  childish  imagination  was  exercised.  Here  the 
panorama  was  of  a  different  kind ;  it  represented 
scenes  in  India  —  the  pursuit  of  deer  and  various 
kinds  of  smaller  game,  the  hunting  of  the  tiger 
and  the  lion  by  the  natives,  perched  on  great 
elephants  with  magnificent  trappings.  These 
views  are  not  duplicated  in  the  wall  paper;  the 
scene  is  continuous,  passing  from  one  end  of  the 
hall  to  the  other,  a  panorama  rich  in  color  and 
incident.  I  had  thus  in  my  mind  a  picture  of 
India,  I  knew  what  kind  of  trees  grew  there,  I 
knew  the  clothes  people  wore  and  the  arms  they 
used  while  hunting.  To-day  the  same  paper 
hangs  in  the  halls  of  the  old  house. 

The  Chippendale  sideboards,  the  spindle-legged 
and  fiddle-backed  chairs,  the  claw-footed  tables  and 
sofas,  the  four  posters  and  high  daddies,  the  old 
clock  on  the  stairs  with  its  moon,  still  stand  in 
their  remembered  places.  All  the  rooms  have  great 
open  fireplaces ;  and  to  this  day  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  modern  heating  apparatus,  or  plumbing, 
in  the  house. 

Facing  the  front  door  is  a  mound  surrounded 
by  a  circular  roadway,  and  here  my  grandfather 
had  erected  a  sun-dial,  an  object  of  mysterious 
charm.  Beyond  this  circle,  a  gateway  leads  to  an 


CHILDHOOD  9 

old-fashioned  flower  and  vegetable  garden  of  some 
five  acres.  This  is  surrounded  by  a  high  picket 
fence  hidden  in  a  profuse  lilac  growth.  Every- 
thing grew  there  —  asparagus,  rhubarb,  horse- 
radish, the  old-fashioned  herbs,  and  an  abundant 
supply  of  vegetables.  The  roses,  the  lilies-of-the- 
valley,  the  violets,  the  lilacs,  the  peonies,  and  the 
stately  lines  of  box  which  mark  the  pathways, 
seemed  to  me,  as  I  looked  upon  them  recently, 
the  same  that  I  saw,  when  I  walked  in  the  garden 
with  my  grandfather. 

At  "  Buccleuch,"  protection  has  always  been 
given  to  the  birds;  they  were  subjects  of  special 
care  to  my  grandfather,  who  allowed  no  one  to 
disturb  them.  The  wood-thrush  and  robin  built 
their  nests  in  the  honeysuckle  over  the  windows. 
The  catbirds  and  squirrels  were  equally  tame  in 
the  garden  and  woods,  and  the  place  fairly  thronged 
with  the  smaller  song-birds.  Equal  protection  was 
afforded  them  during  the  lifetime  of  my  uncle 
Charles  Scott;  and  my  cousin  Anthony  Dey,  the 
present  owner,  shows  a  like  solicitude. 

Grandmother  Cornell's  house  on  Brooklyn 
Heights  was  an  old-fashioned  three-story  brick 
structure  with  a  high  peaked  roof.  It  occupied 
the  entire  twenty-five  feet  of  a  city  lot,  and  the 
adjoining  lot,  until  recently,  was  a  part  of 
the  place.  The  entrance  was  on  the  side  of 
the  house  in  those  days,  and  in  the  yard  was 


io  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

a  large  magnolia,  while  sheltered  by  the  wall 
was  an  apricot  tree  that  bore  a  profusion  of  fruit 
every  year.  The  garden  back  was  full  of  all 
kinds  of  hardy  flowers,  and  was  laid  out  in  walks 
bordered  with  box  in  the  dignified  way  of  the 
olden  time.  Inside,  the  house  was  of  the  con- 
ventional type  associated  with  the  city. 

Many  things,  however,  added  to  the  pleasure 
of  the  seven  grandchildren,  about  of  an  age,  who 
played  together  here ;  one  was  a  garret,  a  room 
under  the  roof,  occupying  the  whole  upper 
portion  of  the  house,  so  large  that  one  of  our 
games  was  what  we  called  playing  farming,  and 
each  of  us  had  a  farm  situated  in  different  corners 
of  this  room.  Here  we  had  toy  stables,  with 
tiny  wooden  horses  and  wooden  men  and  carts, 
and  all  the  appurtenances  of  farming ;  and  in 
stormy  weather  we  played  day  after  day  at  this 
game.  There  were  long  wooden  steps  that  led 
from  the  garret  to  a  point  of  the  roof,  and  outside 
was  a  spacious  observation  platform,  much  such 
as  one  finds  on  every  old  house  in  Nantucket  to- 
day. Surrounded  by  a  strong  balustrade,  this 
platform  afforded  a  safe  place  for  kite-flying  in 
the  spring ;  it  was  where  we  watched  the  Fourth 
of  July  celebrations  at  night  when  the  fireworks 
made  a  fine  spectacle,  and  from  here  all  the 
waters  of  the  bay,  away  down  to  Staten  Island, 
were  plainly  to  be  seen. 


CHILDHOOD  H 

Once  a  wonderful  ship  entered  the  harbor ;  it 
was  the  Great  Eastern,  then  a  miracle  of  naval 
architecture.  On  the  day  of  its  arrival  we  were 
all  taken  up  to  this  platform  to  see  the  coming  of 
this  ship  and  the  ceremonies  attending  its  wel- 
come by  New  York. 

The  summer  before  my  father  died  he  had  re- 
moved to  Scotch  Plains,  New  Jersey,  where  he 
had  bought  a  farm;  and  that  autumn  my  Uncle 
John,  my  mother's  brother,  came  there  for  sport, 
—  the  shooting  of  game  birds,  —  and  though  I 
was  not  five  years  old,  the  woodcock  and  quail 
which  he  brought  home  from  his  excursions  are 
realities  to  me  still.  The  long  bill  of  the  wood- 
cock, his  large,  mild,  deerlike  eye  placed  high  up 
on  the  side  of  his  head,  was  one  of  the  things 
that  first  impressed  me ;  and  I  never  now  see  the 
white  throat  of  a  quail  without  recalling  the 
quail  as  they  were  taken  from  my  uncle's  game- 
bag  so  long  ago. 

Shortly  after  my  father's  death  my  mother 
returned  to  Grandmother  Cornell's  house  to  live. 
As  my  mother's  father  died  long  before  I  was 
born,  I  have  no  recollection  of  him ;  but  my 
mother's  mother — Grandmother  Cornell,  as  we 
called  her  —  outlived  my  mother  many  years,  and 
died  in  1896  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-three 
years.  She  was  a  notable  housewife  of  the  old 
school;  and  I  recall  as  boy  and  man  the  daily 


12  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

market-going,  with  her  a  serious  function,  very 
unlike  the  present-day  calls  of  butchers  and  gro- 
cers at  one's  house,  or  the  hurried  conversation 
as  to  one's  wants,  with  these  gentry  over  the  tele- 
phone. She  looked  after  every  detail  of  her 
house  almost  to  the  end ;  so  that  when  she  died 
on  the  1 2th  of  January,  the  friend  who  settled  up 
her  affairs  found  that  on  the  ist  of  January  all 
of  her  current  expenses  had  been  discharged  and 
settled,  leaving  only  twelve  days  of  her  life  to  be 
arranged  and  paid  for. 

From  my  grandmother  I  learned  many  things. 
As  a  child  I  saw  her  regular  round  of  yearly 
household  work,  each  season  with  its  own  partic- 
ular associations  —  the  sweetmeats  and  preserves 
that  were  made  up  in  the  summer  months,  the 
apple  and  mince  pies  at  Thanksgiving,  the  first 
shad  of  the  spring.  All  the  details  of  work  and 
all  the  delicacies  appropriate  to  each  season  were 
impressed  on  my  mind  because  of  the  fine  house- 
hold economy  and  good  cheer  that  were  due  to 
her  careful  administration. 

In  1861,  we  made  a  journey  to  Europe,  then  no 
inconsiderable  undertaking,  and  the  chief  incen- 
tive was  the  possibility  that  something  might  be 
done  by  the  great  surgeons  of  Europe  to  mitigate 
my  lameness,  which  was  then  of  about  four  years' 
standing.  But  before  we  left  America  an  inci- 
dent occurred  which  made  a  deep  impression  in 


CHILDHOOD  13 

my  memory.  To  a  boy  of  seven  the  word  abo- 
litionist had  no  meaning;  but  as  I  heard  it  applied 
to  my  mother,  it  seemed  a  term  of  opprobrium. 
The  capture  and  hanging  of  John  Brown,  and  the 
discussion  of  events,  were  engrossing  topics  in 
the  household.  Still  I  did  not  comprehend  the 
situation,  for  with  my  toys,  a  file  of  lead  soldiers 
and  a  small  jointed  doll,  I  played  at  hanging  John 
Brown.  I  had  seen  all  the  pictures  of  the  ex- 
ecution in  Harpers  Weekly,  and  reenacted  the 
drama  as  nearly  as  I  could. 

The  gloom  when  finally  the  great  conflict 
opened,  when  a  flag  at  half  mast  revealed  a  new 
method  of  expression,  is  among  the  strongest  of 
my  early  recollections. 

These  incidents  have  been  dwelt  on  not  for 
any  intrinsic  interest  nor  as  indicative  of  later 
tastes,  but  as  serving  to  show  that  my  perceptive 
powers  were  early  called  into  play,  and  that  my 
visualizing  faculty  recorded  lasting  pictures. 

Crossing  the  ocean,  one  day  one  of  the  sailors 
caught  a  bird,  in  the  rigging,  which  had  come  on 
board  ship,  tired  and  exhausted,  seeking  refuge. 
There  was  an  invalid  lady,  confined  to  her  cabin, 
which  was  just  opposite  ours,  she  asked  to  see 
the  bird,  and  it  was  brought  down  alive  in 
the  sailor's  hand.  I  had  a  good  look  at  it. 
I  recall  its  long,  curved  bill,  its  finely  barred 
brown  feathers,  the  frightened  look  of  its  eye, 


i4  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

and  I  know  to-day  (though  I  saw  it  only  for  a 
few  moments  and  was  not  quite  ten  years  old) 
that  it  was  the  Hudsonian  curlew. 

We  stayed  a  year  in  England,  France,  Switzer- 
land, and  Germany,  visiting  the  great  cities, 
but  I  have  no  definite  recollection  of  any 
of  the  birds,  nor  that  I  was  interested  in  them. 
However,  the  sport  of  fishing  fascinated  me, 
and  though  I  did  not  catch  anything,  I  fished 
in  a  brook  and  some  ponds  in  England.  The 
brook  was  near  Chester,  and  the  ponds  were  in 
one  of  the  "  Commons  "  on  the  outside  of  London. 
For  many  days,  too,  one  after  the  other,  along 
the  banks  of  the  Seine  in  Paris,  I  joined  a  row 
of  fishing  poles  held  by  men  in  blue  cotton 
blouses,  noisy  with  a  lot  of  gabble  I  did  not 
understand.  As  I  look  back  now,  the  number  of 
fish  were  in  inverse  ratio  to  the  sportsmen.  I 
know  I  did  not  catch  any.  I  fished  also  at 
Schaffhausen,  in  Switzerland.  The  details  con- 
nected with  the  sport  there  and  in  Paris  are  clear, 
the  kind  of  bait,  and  how,  in  the  latter  place, 
the  fishermen  enveloped  it  in  mud,  presum- 
ably thinking  that,  as  the  mud  was  washed 
away,  the  lure  would  appear  more  natural. 
At  Schaffhausen  a  kind  of  sow-bug  was  used, 
and  together  with  the  one  on  the  hook,  a 
handful  were  thrown  into  the  water  in  the 
hope  that  the  fish  might  pick  up  (as  was  ex- 


CHILDHOOD  15 

plained  to  me)  the  wrong  one  out  of  so  many 
right  ones ;  but  I  did  not  see  any  fish  caught 
at  Schaffhausen. 

After  a  year  we  came  back  to  America,  and 
went  to  live  first  on  Staten  Island.  I  was  then 
about  eleven  years  old,  and  have  a  definite  rec- 
ollection of  noticing  birds  there.  Two  kinds 
made  a  deep  and  lasting  picture  in  my  mind, 
though  I  did  not  know  their  names.  Great  flocks 
of  birds  came  to  the  juniper  trees  that  bordered 
one  side  of  the  place  to  eat  the  berries  in  season, 
and  there  were  many  spotted-breasted  thrushes 
that  passed  through  at  certain  times  of  the 
year.  These  happenings  were  in  the  fall,  and 
were  impressed  on  my  mind  by  the  men  who 
were  shooting  the  thrushes.  A  German  pot- 
hunter showed  me  a  brown  thrush,  and  told  me 
that  all  the  birds  that  had  a  yellow  lining  to  their 
mouths  were  good  to  eat.  Then  he  opened  the 
thrush's  mouth  and  I  marked  the  beautiful 
golden  color  inside.  Another  gunner  came  after 
the  birds  that  fed  on  the  juniper  berries,  and  shot 
into  the  flock,  killing  a  great  number.  Some  of 
the  birds  had  plain  wings,  but  others  were  deco- 
rated with  beautiful  sealing-wax  appendages  to 
some  of  the  feathers  of  the  wing.  These  charac- 
teristics, together  with  the  soft  brown  colors  and 
the  pointed  crests,  define  them  now  as  cedar 
birds.  Still  the  fishing  interested  me  on  Staten 


16  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

Island  more  than  the  birds  did.  There  was  a 
pond  not  very  far  from  our  house  where  there 
were  myriads  of  goldfish.  I  used  to  fish  there, 
and  caught  a  good  many.  They  were  nearly  all 
small,  and  most  of  them  were  thrown  back  again ; 
but  the  fascination  of  angling  was  strong  upon 
me. 

After  living  at  Staten  Island  a  year,  my  step- 
father bought  a  farm  in  Washington  Valley,  in 
New  Jersey,  not  far  from  Plainfield.  This  farm 
he  purchased  of  a  man  of  means,  who  had  tired  of 
his  toy.  The  farm  was  acquired  practically  as  it 
stood,  with  all  the  horses,  cattle,  and  cows,  and  a 
great  many  things  on  it  that  appealed  to  me, 
some  peacocks  and  a  pair  of  domesticated  Canada 
geese.  A  brook  which  ran  through  the  place 
had  been  dammed,  making  a  large  pond  of  some 
twenty  acres.  Here  the  ducks  came  in  the  fall, 
real  wild  ducks;  and  here  our  tame  wild  geese 
were  sometimes  visited  by  other  wild  geese  pass- 
ing over.  On  the  trees  that  surrounded  the  pond 
I  watched  the  hawks,  when  the  leaves  were  off, 
perched  on  the  bare  limbs.  Here  again  came  to 
visit  my  mother  my  Uncle  John,  a  great  sports- 
man, and  now  I  was  big  enough  to  go  with  him, 
when  he  did  not  go  too  far,  to  shoot  birds  — 
woodcock  and  quail.  One  day  when  we  were 
out  walking  together  he  killed  a  fine  hawk  that 
rose  from  the  grass  near  by.  A  bird  on  the  ground 


CHILDHOOD  17 

in  the  bushes,  rustling  in  the  dry  leaves,  attracted 
my  attention.  It  was  a  small  bird.  I  looked  at 
it  very  carefully,  saw  that  it  had  a  black  head 
and  neck,  was  black  above,  had  black  wings  with 
some  white  markings,  and  rather  a  long  tail  with 
some  white  feathers  in  it.  Its  colors  underneath 
were  white  on  the  belly  and  chestnut-brown 
on  the  sides.  From  these  memories  I  know  now 
that  it  was  a  cheewink,  or  towhee. 

Because  I  was  delicate,  I  was  much  at  home, 
and  had  private  instruction  from  a  governess,  and 
was  allowed  to  be  out  of  doors  all  the  time  possible. 
The  brook  was  my  favorite  resort.  Here  I  caught 
many  fish,  and  learned  through  experience  and 
some  help  the  fundamental  principles  of  fishing. 
I  watched  also  many  of  the  other  creatures  that 
lived  along  the  banks  and  in  the  water  —  turtles, 
frogs,  and  snakes. 

After  I  was  thirteen  years  old  I  went  away  to 
a  German  school  in  South  Brooklyn,  kept  by  two 
masters  named  Deghuee  and  Schmieder.  I  was 
at  this  school  for  nearly  three  years,  and  lived  in 
the  house  of  Mr.  Deghuee.  Here  I  had  my  first 
systematic  teaching,  for  before  this  I  had  been 
so  much  of  an  invalid  that  my  education  consisted 
largely  in  reading  such  books  as  I  liked,  and  a 
certain  amount  of  disconnected  teaching  in  a  num- 
ber of  schools  and  by  different  tutors  and  gover- 
nesses. Everything  save  English  composition 


1 8  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

was  studied  in  German  ;  mathematics,  geography, 
French,  and  Spanish,  all  from  German  text-books, 
and  both  at  school  and  at  Mr.  Deghuee's  house 
German  was  the  language  spoken.  The  exacti- 
tude in  method  and  absoluteness  of  discipline 
were  characteristic. 

When  I  was  perhaps  rather  more  than  four  years 
old,  among  my  many  pets  was  a  water  spaniel, 
"  Prince,"  the  first  dog-friend  I  recall.  He  was  a 
beautiful  dog,  orange  and  white  in  color,  with  fine 
silky  hair,  large  expressive  eyes,  and  great  general 
intelligence.  I  know  that  he  did  many  tricks.  The 
cats  and  kittens  of  my  boyhood  were  many,  but 
from  them  I  cannot  select  any  particular  favorite. 
I  became  much  attached  to  a  common  water-turtle, 
which  my  brother  and  I  caught  while  we  were  on  a 
visit  near  Perth  Amboy.  We  used  it  as  a  draught 
horse  in  our  plays,  having  bored  small  holes 
through  the  back  of  the  rim  of  the  shell  to  attach 
the  harness,  a  small  paper  box  answering  for  a 
cart  We  were  at  Perth  Amboy  only  a  few  days, 
and  returning  from  that  point  to  Brooklyn,  the 
turtle  was  carried  in  a  basket.  When  we  arrived 
at  Wall  Street  Ferry,  and  were  on  the  boat,  I 
looked  in  the  basket,  the  turtle  was  gone.  I  knew 
that  it  was  safe  only  a  little  while  before,  in  the 
street-car,  and  was  so  much  concerned  at  the  loss 
that  we  left  the  boat  and  went  to  look  for  the 
turtle.  We  found  him  just  outside  the  ferry  house 


CHILDHOOD  19 

in  the  roadway,  but  alas !  a  cart-wheel  had  passed 
over  him.  My  grief  was  great,  and  my  mother 
said  to  me,  "  You  could  not  cry  more  for  any 
of  us!" 

While  at  the  farm  I  reared  a  crow,  which  was 
a  source  of  great  amusement,  not  only  to  me, 
but  to  our  many  friends.  This  bird  was  allowed 
large  liberty,  was  very  tame,  and  with  the  tradi- 
tional crow  propensity  for  mischief,  played  many 
pranks,  both  edifying  and  provoking,  and  some 
of  them  almost  inconceivable.  He  would  pick  a 
rose  from  the  garden,  bring  it  to  the  steps  of  the 
piazza,  and  then  carefully  remove  each  petal,  lay- 
ing them  in  a  pile.  After  this  was  finished,  one 
by  one  he  would  carefully  remove  each  leaf  to  the 
step  below,  making  a  new  heap  there.  There 
were  three  steps  to  this  piazza,  and  for  hours  he 
would  move  his  rose-leaves  from  one  step  to 
another,  up  and  down,  seeming  to  find  infinite 
satisfaction  in  the  process.  The  whole  was 
accompanied  by  much  gabble,  doubtless  in  crow 
language,  which  seemed  to  me  to  indicate  at 
times  great  pleasure,  and  at  other  times  rage 
and  irritation,  when  the  wind  would  disturb 
his  pile  of  leaves  and  he  had  to  restore  order 
from  chaos.  Certainly  he  was  a  droll,  amusing 
fellow. 

Two  pairs  of  tame  mice  were  not  so  edifying 
to  the  family  as  they  were  to  me,  and  became  so 


20  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

great  a  nuisance,  their  numbers  having  been 
largely  increased  by  several  litters  of  young,  that 
the  whole  lot  were  summarily  dealt  with.  My 
brother  and  I  also  had  rabbits,  and  the  breeding 
and  rearing  of  young  ones  was  a  serious,  enter- 
taining, and  pleasant  occupation  to  us; 


CHAPTER   II 

YOUTH 

AFTER  leaving  the  academy  in  Brooklyn,  I  spent 
almost  a  year  at  a  boarding  school  in  Providence, 
Rhode  Island.  This  seminary  is  known  as  the 
Friends'  School ;  and  at  the  time  I  went  there, 
Albert  Smiley  was  the  head-master.  In  all  the 
schools  I  had  attended  so  far,  including  this  one 
at  Providence,  there  was  nothing  in  the  line  of 
nature  study:  no  physiology,  no  botany,  no 
zoology,  so  that  my  training  in  any  of  these 
lines,  or  the  development  of  taste  for  natural 
history,  does  not  seem  to  have  been  dependent 
on  any  inspiration  acquired  from  my  school  life. 

The  fall  when  I  went  to  Providence,  the  gor- 
geous coloring  of  the  maple  trees  and  some  of  the 
autumn  wild-flowers  attracted  me.  I  had  now 
become  familiar  with  a  few  of  the  commoner 
birds  of  the  eastern  part  of  America  —  the  robin, 
the  bluebird,  the  meadow-lark,  the  yellowbird,  the 
barn-swallow,  and  the  catbird. 

My  summer  vacations  were  spent  at  my 
mother's  home,  which  was  now  in  Plainfield, 
New  Jersey.  Most  of  the  time  I  was  out  of  doors. 

21 


22  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

One  vacation  was  passed  in  New  Hampshire  on 
the  edge  of  the  White  Mountains,  and  that  fall  I 
stayed  for  a  short  season  at  Northampton,  Massa- 
chusetts, with  some  friends,  and  worked  for  a 
little  while  in  an  office  to  see  if  my  taste  lay  in 
mercantile  directions.  Thus  far,  though  my  bent 
was  apparent,  it  was  not  very  definite  or  decided. 
After  a  few  weeks  here  —  not  more  than  five  —  I 
was  suddenly  called  home,  as  my  mother  had 
determined  that  my  brother  and  I  should  go  to 
an  institution  which  was  about  to  be  inaugurated. 
A  wise  and  far-seeing  man  in  New  York  had 
planned  and  endowed  a  seat  of  learning,  and  his 
memorable  words  have  become  its  motto :  "  I 
would  found  an  institution  where  any  person  can 
find  instruction  in  any  study." 

This  was  Ezra  Cornell,  the  founder  of  the  great 
university  which  bears  his  name. 

So  my  brother  and  I  started,  almost  at  once, 
for  Ithaca,  and,  passing  an  easy  examination,  were 
admitted  as  freshmen  to  the  first  class  of  Cornell 
University. 

I  hardly  realized  myself  what  it  all  meant ;  but 
I  soon  began  to  know  that  here  an  effort  was 
being  made  to  develop  the  great  idea  laid  down 
by  the  founder.  The  buildings  at  Cornell  Uni- 
versity in  the  beginning  were  four  in  number. 
There  was  a  dormitory  on  Cascadilla  Creek, 
known  as  The  Cascadilla,  and  then  crossing  on 


YOUTH  23 

a  rude  bridge,  some  quarter  of  a  mile  or  more 
beyond,  one  came  to  three  more  buildings  —  a 
central  one  and  two  smaller  stone  structures, 
one  on  either  side,  the  whole  facing  the  lake,  and 
overlooking  a  remarkable  panorama  of  beauty. 

Very  soon  my  studies  drew  me  under  the  in- 
fluence of  Professor  Burt  G.  Wilder.  He  had 
been  a  pupil  of  Agassiz,  and  had  graduated  with 
great  honor  at  Harvard  University.  My  work 
with  him  began  as  a  student  in  a  class  in  physi- 
ology. As  the  subject  developed,  I  was  fascinated, 
and  felt  in  a  degree  the  value  of  my  opportunity. 

Dr.  Wilder  as  a  teacher  had  a  great  influence 
on  everything  I  have  since  done  in  a  scientific 
way,  though  I  was  with  him  but  a  short  time. 
A  physiologist  and  anatomist,  he  had  also  a  very 
considerable  knowledge  of  general  natural  history, 
and  he  encouraged  every  effort  I  made  in  that 
direction.  Such  inspiration  was  extended  to  all 
his  students. 

I  began  to  learn  much  about  insects,  particu- 
larly butterflies  and  beetles.  There  were  then  no 
classes  in  special  branches  of  zoology,  but  my 
attention  being  arrested,  I  would  go  to  Dr.  Wilder 
with  my  problems,  and  with  his  help  in  this  way 
I  pursued  work  outside  of  my  regular  college 
studies. 

Up  to  this  time  I  had  shot  but  few  birds  in  my 
life  —  perhaps  one  or  two.  One  afternoon  that 


24  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

first  fall  in  Ithaca,  I  borrowed  a  gun  of  some  one 
and  went  up  Cascadilla  Creek.  After  a  little  I 
came  upon  a  belted  kingfisher  sitting  on  a  dead 
limb  overhanging  the  bank  of  a  mill  pond.  I 
tried  my  best  to  get  near  him,  but  he  was  shy 
and  wary,  and  anticipated  every  effort  I  made 
to  approach  him.  Finally,  however,  he  flew  up 
toward  the  head  of  the  pond.  I  hid  myself  on 
the  bank,  and  presently  he  came  flying  by  not 
very  far  away.  Fearing  I  might  not  get  another 
chance,  I  fired  at  him  as  he  passed.  I  could  not 
see  that  I  had  hit  him,  for  he  pursued  his  course 
quietly  to  a  branch  of  a  tree,  some  two  hundred 
feet  away,  near  where  I  had  first  seen  him.  Here 
he  gave  his  characteristic  "  rattle  "  as  he  alighted. 
I  watched  him  for  a  moment  and  saw  him  reel 
like  a  drunken  man,  and  then  fall  from  the  limb 
and  strike  the  ground  just  at  the  edge  of  the 
water.  The  watchman  of  the  stream  was  dead. 

I  went  to  him  and  took  him  in  my  hand;  and 
though  he  was  stone-dead,  there  was  not  a  mark 
or  sign  of  a  wound  anywhere;  not  a  drop  of 
blood  soiled  his  feathers,  nor  was  there  any  appar- 
ent about  his  mouth ;  there  was  nothing  to  show 
in  any  way  the  catastrophe  that  had  overtaken 
him.  The  whole  thing  was  to  me  a  marvel.  I 
recall  the  shock  now.  What  had  I  done  ?  Was 
it  possible  to  frighten  a  wild  bird  to  death  ? 

I  have  seen  the  same  thing  happen  many  times 


YOUTH  25 

since ;  that  is,  a  bird  in  full  flight  being  fired  at 
and  apparently  missed  will  pursue  his  way  with- 
out a  motion  to  indicate  the  fatal  wound,  and  then, 
after  going  a  greater  or  less  distance,  suddenly  fall 
dead  to  the  ground,  frequently  from  mid-air.  I 
know  now  the  reason  for  this.  A  single  shot 
striking  a  bird  in  flight,  penetrating  the  thin  side 
of  his  body  and  entering  his  lungs,  makes  a  very 
small  hole  and  no  external  hemorrhage  ensues. 
There  is  little  or  no  shock  to  the  bird ;  I  fancy 
he  hardly  feels  pain,  but  presently  the  internal 
hemorrhage  from  the  great  blood-vessels  that  have 
been  severed  makes  him  suddenly  unconscious, 
and  in  a  moment  he  is  dead.  The  time,  however, 
between  the  penetrating  of  the  shot  and  the  in- 
ternal hemorrhage  is  sufficient  to  allow  the  animal 
to  travel  a  very  considerable  distance,  seemingly 
uninjured. 

Kingfishers,  with  the  characteristic  note  I  have 
referred  to,  are  always  associated  in  my  mind 
with  the  gentry  who  tradition  says  patrolled  the 
streets  and  byways  of  towns  and  villages,  giving 
warning  of  danger  with  a  machine  sounding  not 
unlike  the  "  rattle  "  of  the  kingfisher. 

Well,  I  had  my  kingfisher  and  I  wanted  to  keep 
him,  but  the  question  in  my  mind  was  how  to  do 
it.  Birds  could  be  stuffed,  because  I  had  seen  pre- 
served birds  at  that  time,  but  I  knew  of  no  one  who 
could  show  me  the  process.  Though  there  were 


26  THE  STORY  OF   A  BIRD   LOVER 

doubtless  books  on  the  subject,  none  were  avail- 
able. However,  I  spoke  to  Dr.  Wilder  about  it, 
and  told  him  I  wanted  to  preserve  the  kingfisher. 
He  said  that  he  had  recently  read  of  a  natural- 
ist who  had  made  an  expedition  into  some  very 
remote  part  of  China,  and  brought  back  many 
bird  skins.  He  simply  skinned  them,  as  he  would 
any  animal,  opening  them  from  the  vent  to  the 
angle  of  the  bill,  laying  the  skin  out  flat,  sprin- 
kling it  with  salt  or  alum,  and  drying  it  between 
sheets  of  paper.  All  his  specimens  came  home 
in  that  shape,  and  were  utilized  for  scientific  pur- 
poses afterward.  So,  with  a  knife,  I  proceeded  to 
treat  my  kingfisher  in  that  way,  and  was  so  far 
successful  that  a  flat  skin  of  the  kingfisher,  retain- 
ing most  of  the  feathers,  not  much  rumpled  and 
fairly  clean,  was  the  result.  In  a  few  days  it  dried, 
and  having  duly  labelled  it,  I  was  delighted  with 
my  specimen. 

Later  in  the  year  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  a 
boy  who  told  me  that  another  fellow  in  college,  by 
name  Jobs,  from  somewhere  out  West,  knew  how 
to  stuff  birds.  I  found  out  where  Jobs  roomed, 
and  called  on  him.  He  had  on  his  mantelpiece 
a  mounted  specimen  of  a  spotted  sandpiper.  It 
appeared  to  me  the  most  beautiful  and  natural 
piece  of  work  conceivable,  and  I  determined  at 
that  moment  to  become  capable  in  this  kind  of 
handicraft.  Jobs  told  me  all  about  it,  and  showed 


YOUTH  27 

me  as  best  he  could,  but  he  did  not  have  any 
specimen  to  demonstrate  with,  and  for  some 
reason  I  never  had  a  lesson  from  him. 

My  ambition  was  nevertheless  formed,  and  to 
goad  it  on,  just  at  that  time  a  gentleman  presented 
to  Cornell  University  the  first  systematic  collec- 
tion of  mounted  birds  that  the  museum  of  that 
institution  acquired. 

Green  Smith,  Esq.,  a  son  of  the  well-known 
Gerrit  Smith,  was  a  gentleman  of  leisure,  a  good 
sportsman,  and  had  a  keen  interest  in  birds.  Dur- 
ing his  many  extended  hunting  trips  he  had 
always  collected  specimens.  His  collection,  for 
the  time,  was  remarkable.  Many  of  his  birds  had 
been  mounted  by  John  G.  Bell,  a  very  famous  taxi- 
dermist, a  contemporary  and  friend  of  Audubon. 
Bell  had  been  in  the  field  with  that  great  pioneer 
in  American  ornithology,  and  had  assisted  him  in 
his  collecting.  Green  Smith's  scientific  knowledge 
of  birds  was  not  profound;  I  think  his  interest 
in  them  was  largely  that  of  a  sportsman.  They 
also  aroused  his  aesthetic  sensibility,  always  the 
first  appeal  of  nature. 

Shortly  after  I  met  him  in  the  early  spring,  one 
day  I  killed  a  little  bird  that  was  a  dark  olive- 
green  with  more  or  less  definite  bars  on  each 
wing,  and  with  a  bright  orange  crown  sur- 
rounded by  a  golden  area,  practically  concealed 
by  the  general  olive-green  feathers  of  the  head. 


28  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

I  had  no  idea  what  it  was,  and  took  it  to  Mr. 
Smith  for  information.  He,  with  an  old  colored 
man  who  served  as  an  assistant,  was  arranging 
the  birds  in  the  cases  which  the  university  had 
provided  to  receive  them.  I  handed  him  my 
bird,  he  examined  it,  said  he  was  not  sure  of 
its  identity,  but  that  he  would  look  it  up,  and 
took  down  a  book  from  the  shelf.  This  book  was 
Cuvier's  celebrated  "  Regne  Animal,"  the  volume 
devoted  to  ornithology,  and  here  he  found  the 
plate  of  a  bird  that  looked  something  like  the 
little  fellow  we  were  discussing.  He  told  me  he 
thought  it  must  be  Cuvier's  kinglet.  I  am 
elaborating  all  this  here,  not  so  much  for  the 
interest  of  the  thing  in  itself,  as  to  let  some  of 
my  younger  friends  know  what  was  the  state  of 
knowledge  in  general  about  birds  at  so  late  a 
date  as  1868  and  1869  in  this  country,  even  among 
people  who  were  professed  students.  The  status 
of  Cuvier's  kinglet  is  too  well  known  to  be  dwelt 
on  here,  but  I  quote  the  sum  of  our  present  knowl- 
edge regarding  the  bird. 

CUVIER'S  KINGLET. 

Regulus  cuvicrii  Aud. 
Regulus  cuvierii  Aud.  Orn.  Biog.  i.  1832,  p.  288,  pi.  55. 

"Known  only  from  Audubon's  description  and  figure 
of  the  original  specimen,  killed  in  June,  1812,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Schuylkill  River,  in  Pennsylvania." 


YOUTH  29 

American  Ornithologists  Union  "  Check-list "  of  North  American 
Birds,  p.  333,  Hypothetical  List.  Second  and  Revised 
Edition,  New  York,  1895. 

Only  one  specimen  of  Cuvier's  kinglet  has  ever 
been  taken,  so  far  as  naturalists  are  aware,  and 
this  was  obtained  by  Audubon  on  the  banks  of 
the  Schuylkill  in  June,  1812. 

I  may  say  that  Mr.  Smith's  knowledge  of  large 
birds,  and  especially  of  game-birds,  —  ducks,  snipe, 
and  birds  of  prey,  —  was  accurate  and  adequate ; 
but  when  it  came  to  the  smaller  insectivorous 
song-birds,  it  is  evident,  from  what  I  have  just 
recounted,  that  his  knowledge  was  at  that  time 
elementary. 

I  know  now  that  the  little  bird  was  the  golden- 
crowned  kinglet,  one  of  the  most  abundant  mi- 
grants, and  a  frequent  winter  resident  in  all  the 
country  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York  and  south- 
ward throughout  eastern  North  America,  going 
even  as  far  south  as  Central  America  in  that 
season. 

From  this  period,  the  study  of  insects  and 
birds  divided  my  interest.  I  acquired  a  very  fair 
knowledge  of  the  common  butterflies  and  beetles 
of  the  region  about  Ithaca.  Having  Harris's 
"  Insects  Injurious  to  Vegetation  "  as  a  text-book, 
I  was  able  to  identify  the  commoner  insects  that 
came  in  my  way.  While  much  interested  in 
birds,  it  had  not  even  occurred  to  me  that  their 


30  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

study  would  engross  so  much  of  my  attention 
and  time  later. 

A  very  pleasant  and  profitable  year  was  spent 
at  Cornell  University.  During  that  term  I 
heard  university  lectures  delivered  by  Louis 
Agassiz,  James  Russell  Lowell,  Bayard  Taylor, 
Goldwin  Smith,  and  other  notable  men.  I  made 
the  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Cornell  in  a  slight 
way,  and  also  of  the  president  of  the  new 
university,  Andrew  Dickson  White.  I  came  to 
know  the  librarian  of  the  university,  Willard 
Fiske,  quite  intimately,  and  through  him  his  fast 
friend,  Bayard  Taylor. 

Dr.  Wilson,  one  of  the  professors  of  the  uni- 
versity, had  a  son  with  similar  tastes  to  mine, 
though  I  think  they  lay  more  in  the  direction  of 
sportmanship.  However,  he  had  one  thing  I  did 
not  have,  a  light  double-barrelled  gun,  and  I  used 
to  go  with  him  whenever  I  had  the  opportunity, 
and  prepared  birds  whenever  he  could  spare 
specimens  which  he  had  killed.  After  a  little,  it 
came  to  be  known  that  I  was  interested  in  that 
sort  of  thing,  and  the  boys  helped  me  all  they 
could.  I  may  say  that  during  these  years  I  was 
very  lame,  often  having  to  resort  to  crutches. 

During  the  next  summer  vacation  my  mother 
was  away  from  her  home,  in  Maine,  and  I  spent 
nearly  two  months  on  a  farm  that  belonged  to  an 
uncle. 


YOUTH  31 

Long  before  this  the  farm  in  Washington  Val- 
ley had  been  sold,  but  curiously  enough  this  farm 
where  I  spent  the  summer  was  not  only  in  Wash- 
ington Valley,  but  adjoined  the  place  I  knew  best 
in  my  childhood.  Here  I  began  to  renew  my 
acquaintance  with  the  country  I  had  not  been  in 
for  several  years.  I  tramped  up  and  down  the 
old  brook,  saw  the  spotted  sandpipers  and  green 
herons,  became  acquainted  with  the  wood-thrushes 
and  catbirds,  tried  in  vain  to  see  the  whippoor- 
wills,  which  I  heard  singing  every  night,  and 
saw  besides  many  birds  I  did  not  know,  but 
which  nevertheless  made  a  lasting  impression 
upon  me. 

Uncle  Dick  did  not  like  boys  to  shoot  anything 
in  the  way  of  song-birds,  and  so  these  were  undis- 
turbed ;  but  he  let  me  have  his  gun,  and  I  was 
allowed  —  if  I  could  get  near  enough  —  to  kill 
spotted  sandpipers  and  green  herons  or  crows. 
During  these  hunting  trips  I  saw  many  things. 

At  this  time  my  interest  was  concentrated  upon 
the  accumulation  of  a  collection.  I  wanted  the 
things  so  that  I  could  look  at  them  at  my  leisure 
and  convenience,  and  see  and  study  them  when- 
ever so  disposed,  also  to  satisfy  my  aesthetic  crav- 
ing. But  even  then  I  believe  I  did  not  care 
for  a  collection  for  the  sake  and  glory  of  owning 
it;  it  was  simply  because  I  wanted  the  things 
available. 


32  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

After  about  six  weeks  spent  here  I  joined  my 
mother  at  Old  Orchard  Beach  on  the  Maine  coast. 
On  the  edge  of  the  ocean  were  countless  sand- 
pipers, gulls,  and  other  water-birds  never  seen 
before  and  unknown  to  me,  and  I  formed  the 
acquaintance  of  that  cosmopolite,  the  sanderling. 

Walking  up  the  beach  one  day,  I  found  the 
half-rotted  carcass  of  a  fish  that  had  been  thrown 
ashore.  It  was  a  monster  over  six  feet  long,  so 
far  disintegrated  that  the  skeleton  was  the  chief 
part  left.  Fishermen  told  me  it  was  a  "horse 
mackerel."  Notwithstanding  that  the  bones  were 
full  of  oil  and  grease,  and  that  it  was  disagreeable 
and  malodorous  and  not  particularly  pleasing  in 
appearance,  it  was  too  great  a  treasure  to  leave 
behind.  I  brought  back  most  of  the  vertebrae 
and  the  skull  and  many  of  the  small  bones  in  a 
bundle,  much  to  the  distress  of  my  mother,  both 
during  our  stay  at  the  hotel  and  on  the  return 
journey  home. 

My  taste  must  have  become  now  so  definitely 
apparent  that  my  parents  remarked  it,  for  my 
mother  stopped  with  me  in  Boston  on  our  way 
back  from  Old  Orchard  Beach  to  consult  with  Dr. 
Wilder  there  as  to  my  future.  Whatever  consul- 
tation she  had  with  him  resulted  in  her  deter- 
mination that  I  should  have  the  best  opportunity 
obtainable  for  the  kind  of  study  that  appealed  to 
me.  The  same  fall  she  leased  a  house  in  Cam- 


YOUTH  33 

bridge,  and  I  worked  under  one  of  the  great  mas- 
ters, the  most  inspiring  teacher  of  nature  that  the 
world  has  known. 

The  house  in  Cambridge  where  we  lived  this 
year  was  not  distant  from  the  museum,  and  was 
surrounded  by  an  open  field,  where  numerous 
trees  were  scattered  about,  the  whole  attractive 
to  birds. 

For  the  coming  year  I  studied  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Louis  Agassiz,  with  Professor  N.  S.  Shaler, 
Dr.  Jeffries  Wyman,  and  Mr.  J.  A.  Allen,  who  was 
then  Curator  of  Birds  and  Mammals  in  the  Museum 
of  Comparative  Zoology. 

Nominally  a  student  in  the  Lawrence  Scientific 
School,  a  department  of  Harvard  University,  I 
was  really  a  special  student  working  almost  en- 
tirely in  the  direction  of  natural  history. 

One  of  the  first  things  I  did  on  going  to  Cam- 
bridge was  to  find  out  what  local  laws  there  were 
that  would  allow  me  to  pursue  the  collecting  of 
birds.  By  that  time  my  mind  was  made  up  that 
this  was  the  work  I  wanted  to  do  more  than 
anything  else.  Having  ascertained  that  it  was 
necessary  to  apply  to  the  mayor  of  the  city  of 
Cambridge  for  a  permit  to  shoot  birds,  I  made 
application,  and  received  a  document  setting  forth 
that  such  a  privilege  was  granted  to  me.  Hence 
I  was  enabled  to  collect  all  kinds  of  birds  at  any 
season  of  the  year.  None  of  this  work  was  done 


34  THE   STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

during  my  regular  hours  in  the  museum,  but  all 
the  leisure  I  could  get  and  all  my  holidays  were 
spent  with  my  gun  (for  I  had  a  gun  of  my  own 
by  this  time)  in  collecting  such  birds  as  could  be 
obtained  in  the  vicinity  of  Cambridge,  working 
over  practically  much  the  same  ground  that  had 
been  covered  by  the  great  naturalist,  Nut  tall. 

So  the  term  at  Harvard  wore  on,  and  the  first 
college  year  of  1869  and  1870  came  to  a  close. 


CHAPTER   III 

STUDENT   DAYS 

MY  first  college  vacation  after  going  to  Harvard 
was  spent  at  my  mother's  house  in  Plainfield,  New 
Jersey,  on  the  outskirts  of  the  town.  I  was  in 
Plainfield  early  in  June,  and  made  a  very  con- 
siderable collection  during  the  holidays.  This 
was  composed  chiefly  of  the  local  birds  breeding 
in  the  region,  and  now,  as  I  became  acquainted 
with  them,  the  list  of  known  kinds  grew  rapidly. 
Wilson's  thrush,  the  brown  thrasher,  the  house- 
wren,  the  scarlet  tanager,  the  rose-breasted  gros- 
beak, the  yellow-breasted  chat,  the  orchard  oriole, 
the  Baltimore  oriole,  the  blue-winged  yellow 
warbler,  and  the  yellow  warbler  were  noticeable, 
most  of  them  common,  and  new  to  me.  The 
scarlet  tanager  and  the  yellow-breasted  chat  par- 
ticularly struck  me,  —  one  a  gorgeous,  fiery  spot 
among  the  fresh  new  green  of  the  oak  leaves,  and 
the  other  a  voice,  the  owner  of  which  remained 
long  unknown.  This  voice  came  from  various 
tangles  and  dense  thickets.  It  began  with  a 
croak,  and  then  followed  a  sort  of  whoop ;  now  a 
sharp  whistle  succeeded  by  a  rapid  series  of  short 

35 


36  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

whistling  notes,  staccato  and  diminuendo,  with 
longer  intervals  toward  the  close.  Again  the 
noise  was  like  the  mewing  of  cats,  and  sometimes 
a  young  puppy  seemed  concealed  in  the  bushes. 
The  whole  thing  puzzled  me.  The  vocabulary 
of  the  chat  is  not  limited ;  the  bird  is  a  polyglot 
and  vociferous. 

Once,  on  a  very  still  day,  about  noon,  when 
nature  was  silent,  —  no  songster  carolled  and 
hardly  a  zephyr  stirred,  —  I  saw  a  bird  rise  from 
a  dense  thicket  and  begin  a  curious  flight,  like 
that  of  some  butterfly  or  large  moth,  and  as  seem- 
ingly inconsequent.  With  dangling  legs  and 
slowly  fluttering  wings,  with  feathers  apparently 
awry,  he  poised  for  a  moment,  and  then  burst  into 
the  series  of  notes  that  had  so  long  confounded 
me ;  the  croak,  the  whoop,  and  the  sharp  whistling 
notes  that  I  have  tried  to  describe,  and  in  addition 
many  other  drolleries,  both  of  song  and  motion, 
were  executed.  A  most  remarkable  performance ! 
When  he  alighted  again  a  momentary  view  dis- 
closed a  bird  about  seven  and  a  half  inches  long. 
All  the  upper  parts  and  the  wings  were  olive-green. 
This  color  was  interrupted  on  the  sides  of  the  face 
by  a  clear  white  line  extending  from  the  nostril 
to  the  back  of  the  eye,  and  the  region  in  front  of 
the  eye  was  almost  black,  while  about  it  was  a 
white  ring.  The  whole  throat  and  the  body  under 
the  chest  was  a  clear  lemon  yellow,  deepening 


STUDENT  DAYS  37 

almost  to  cadmium.  The  under  parts  were  white 
shading  into  grayish  on  the  sides  and  flanks. 
Such  was  this  new  acquaintance,  the  yellow- 
breasted  chat,  a  bird  that  comes  from  the  South 
in  April,  and  reaches  as  far  north  commonly  as 
Connecticut  and  southern  Minnesota,  retiring 
again  in  the  late  summer,  spending  the  winter  in 
Central  and  northern  South  America. 

Aside  from  all  I  have  said  about  the  chat,  I 
am  struck  by  what  appears  to  me  an  unusual  mat- 
ter in  regard  to  his  immigration  and  emigration. 
Most  of  our  small  birds  of  passage  that  are  com- 
mon in  eastern  North  America  proceed  south- 
ward, following  the  land.  Ultimately  they  reach 
Florida,  and  passing  down  that  peninsula,  thence 
cross  to  Cuba,  Jamaica,  and  by  this  island  route 
finally  reach  their  winter  home,  whether  it  be 
among  these  islands  or  in  South  America. 

Now,  I  have  spent  many  winters  in  Florida, 
and  many  falls  and  springs.  I  have  seen  all  the 
common  migrants  as  they  passed:  the  scarlet 
tanagers,  many  kinds  of  warblers,  the  swallows, 
wrens,  rose-breasted  grosbeaks,  the  bobolinks,  the 
orchard  and  Baltimore  orioles ;  but  I  have  not 
seen,  nor  have  I  met  any  one  else  who  has  seen, 
a  yellow-breasted  chat  in  Florida.  It  is  common 
throughout  parts  of  Georgia  and  the  Carolinas, 
both  as  a  migrant  and  as  a  resident  breeding  bird. 
I  conclude  that  the  yellow-breasted  chats  pursue  a 


38  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

route  coincident  with  the  land  areas,  and  that  those 
which  occupy  that  portion  of  lowland  North  Amer- 
ica which  is  east  of  the  Appalachian  chain  during 
the  breeding  season,  pass  south  when  migrating 
to  the  east  of  that  chain  and  proceed  around  its 
southern  point ;  taking  a  land  journey  across  the 
Mississippi,  they  reach  Central  and  South  Amer- 
ica (where  they  winter)  by  what  may  be  termed 
the  Louisiana,  Texas,  and  Mexican  route.  It 
seems  not  a  little  remarkable  that  this  bird  pre- 
sumably has  never  taken  the  Florida  and  island 
route  followed  by  so  many  other  small  migrants, 
nor  am  I  aware  of  any  West  Indian  records  of 
the  species  in  question. 

I  cannot  dwell  longer  on  the  work  of  this  sum- 
mer, but  must  hasten  on.  Suffice  to  say  that  I 
collected  about  two  hundred  birds,  some  of  which 
I  did  not  know  until  I  returned  to  Cambridge, 
where,  with  the  assistance  of  the  museum  collec- 
tions, their  identity  was  revealed. 

The  house  that  we  went  to  live  in,  and  where 
the  rest  of  my  undergraduate  years  were  passed, 
was  located  in  Berkeley  Street,  and  was  almost 
directly  back  of  the  poet  Longfellow's ;  his  garden 
adjoined  our  place.  John  Fiske  was  a  close 
neighbor  and  nearly  opposite  was  the  home  of 
William  Dean  Howells. 

My  mother  had  a  considerable  circle  of  friends 
which  grew  rapidly.  Robert  Dale  Owen,  Henry 


STUDENT  DAYS  39 

James,  the  elder,  and  others  were  frequent  callers. 
Samuel  Longfellow,  the  poet's  brother,  also  came, 
and  the  social  circle  was  both  charming  and  cul- 
tivated. 

To  return  to  my  college  work,  Mr.  J.  A.  Allen 
had  recently  made  a  tour  of  parts  of  Kansas,  Colo- 
rado, and  Wyoming,  principally  for  the  purpose 
of  obtaining  ornithological  material.  The  collec- 
tions that  he  had  so  made  were  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  fifteen  hundred  birds,  and  had  just 
arrived  at  the  museum.  Part  of  my  regular 
work  during  this  year  was  the  study  of  these 
collections,  and  I  became  conversant,  at  least, 
with  the  external  appearance  of  the  specimens  in 
the  bird  fauna  in  question.  In  1878  I  visited  al- 
most the  same  region  where  Mr.  Allen  had  worked, 
and  met  no  birds  that  were  not  recognized  at 
sight,  so  careful  and  thorough  was  the  kind  of 
training  pursued  under  Mr.  Allen's  direction. 

I  kept  up  my  out-of-door  study  and  field-work. 
One  of  my  favorite  rounds  for  such  investigation 
was  a  place  we  called  "  The  Farm."  It  was  just 
back  of  Mount  Auburn,  and  among  its  features 
was  a  large  apple-orchard,  and  a  considerable  pine 
wood,  while  in  the  more  open  land  was  a  large 
field  of  asparagus  which  was  allowed  to  go  to  seed. 
To  these  asparagus  beds  many  birds  came  in  the 
fall  and  winter,  among  them  great  flocks  of  cedar- 
birds,  to  feast  on  the  berries.  The  passenger- 


40  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

pigeon,  once  a  remarkable  member  of  the  bird  life 
of  eastern  North  America,  still  bred  in  small 
numbers  in  the  pine  woods.  Jays  and  flickers 
roamed  through  the  orchard  almost  the  entire 
year. 

One  day  in  the  fall,  I  had  just  killed  a  blue  jay 
from  a  tree  in  the  orchard,  when  I  saw  a  young 
man  coming  toward  me,  who  hailed  me.  He,  too, 
had  a  gun.  We  had  some  conversation,  and  I 
perceived  directly  that  we  had  mutual  tastes.  I 
told  him  my  name,  and  he  said  at  once,  "You 
are  the  boy  who  applied  for  the  permit ;  we  were 
wondering  who  it  was."  Then  I  learned  that  he 
was  Henry  Henshaw,  and  that  he  lived  in  Grant- 
ville.  He  also  told  me  that  a  friend  of  his, 
William  Brewster  of  Cambridge,  another  young 
man,  had  a  very  considerable  collection  of  birds, 
and  invited  me  to  go  with  him  to  see  it.  We 
made  an  appointment  to  do  this  at  an  early  day. 

One  afternoon  we  called  on  Brewster,  and  our 
meetings  after  that  were  frequent.  The  group 
was  soon  joined  by  Ruthven  Dean  who  lived  a 
little  way  from  Brewster.  After  a  while  we  set 
apart  a  certain  night  in  the  week  when  we  met, 
sometimes  at  this  one's  house,  again  at  that  one's, 
to  discuss  birds,  and  this  went  on  all  through  the 
year,  until  toward  the  close  of  it  we  began  to  speak 
of  ourselves  as  the  "  Bird  Club."  The  next  fall 
our  numbers  were  augmented  by  Henry  A.  Purdie 


STUDENT  DAYS  41 

of  West  Newton,  Ernest  Ingersoll,  C.  J.  Maynard, 
and  a  few  others,  and  then  we  definitely  formed  a 
club  for  the  study  of  birds,  which  met  weekly  at 
William  Brewster's  house.  We  called  it  "The 
Nuttall  Ornithological  Club"  after  the  eminent 
ornithologist.  The  club  still  exists  in  Cambridge, 
and  is  the  parent  of  the  American  Ornithologists' 
Union. 

This  college  year  passed  much  as  the  one  be- 
fore, except  that  my  knowledge  of  birds  had 
become  wider.  The  material  obtained  in  Plain- 
field  gave  me  duplicates  so  that  I  could  exchange 
with  both  Henshaw  and  Brewster,  who  had  small 
collections  of  bird  skins. 

In  the  next  vacation  a  great  delight  awaited 
me.  A  school  friend  of  my  mother  had  married 
William  H.  Edwards,  a  naturalist,  who  was  par- 
ticularly interested  in  insects  and  more  especially 
in  butterflies.  My  mother  had  kept  up  a  rather 
desultory  correspondence  with  her  friend,  and  in 
an  interchange  of  letters  in  the  spring,  an  invita- 
tion was  extended  to  me  to  visit  the  family  and 
spend  the  coming  vacation  at  their  home.  They 
had  formerly  lived  at  Newburgh,  on  the  Hudson, 
and  I  had  been  there  once ;  but  after  the  Civil  War 
Mr.  Edwards  became  engaged  in  coal-mining  in 
West  Virginia,  and  removed  to  the  Kanawha  Val- 
ley, locating  at  the  town  of  Coalburg,  where  he 
had  extensive  mines  which  were  being  worked. 


42  THE  STORY  OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

and  which  needed  his  constant  attention.  He  had 
a  son  and  two  daughters  about  my  own  age. 

So  I  began  to  equip  myself  for  my  first  real  ex- 
pedition as  a  naturalist.  It  was  only  a  small  stock 
of  powder,  some  dust-shot,  a  few  pounds  of  arsenic, 
some  cotton,  needles  and  thread,  note-books,  and 
my  tools  that  went  with  me,  but  I  shall  never 
forget  the  preparation.  Many  times  since  I  have 
fitted  myself  for  prolonged  stays  in  the  wilderness, 
with  stores,  provisions,  and  equipments  of  various 
kinds,  most  elaborate  and  bulky,  but  I  look  back 
to  the  day  when  I  spent  my  few  dollars  for  the 
things  I  have  described  for  my  trip  to  West 
Virginia,  and  feel  again  the  joy  and  anticipation 
which  no  subsequent  preparation  has  awakened. 

I  went  by  rail  to  Baltimore,  thence  via  Harper's 
Ferry  to  Parkersburg  on  the  Ohio  River,  and  by 
steamboat  on  this  river  to  a  town  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Kanawha,  called  Gallipolis,  where  another 
boat  conveyed  me  up  the  Kanawha  River  to  Coal- 
burg.  This  was  a  roundabout  journey,  and  the 
boat  part  of  it  exceedingly  slow.  On  the  way  I 
saw  several  birds  never  met  with  alive,  and  two 
of  them  I  observed  particularly.  The  first  was 
the  red-headed  woodpecker,  conspicuous  from 
his  definite  markings  exhibited  in  flight,  and  the 
other  the  turkey-buzzard,  at  which  I  never  ceased 
to  wonder,  as  it  soared  with  so  much  ease,  or  passed 
the  trains  as  if  they  were  stationary. 


STUDENT  DAYS  43 

I  was  received  with  the  kindest  welcome  at 
Coalburg,  then  a  remote  place  where  they  saw 
few  people  from  the  North. 

Coalburg  is  situated  in  the  valley  of  the  Kana- 
wha  River,  which  is  here  narrow  with  high  hills 
on  either  side.  The  river  is  about  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  wide  generally,  winding  in  and  out  among 
hills.  These  rise  abruptly  just  back  from  the 
river,  there  being  little  bottom-land.  At  the 
time  I  visited  this  region  they  were  heavily  tim- 
bered with  a  growth  of  poplar,  beech,  oak,  and 
some  chestnut,  though  beech  was  one  of  the  most 
noticeable  of  the  forest  trees.  Small  streams 
flowed  down  at  frequent  intervals  from  the  high 
hills  above,  which  formed  a  spur  of  the  Alleghany 
Range.  They  can  hardly  be  called  mountains,  as 
they  attain  a  height  of  not  more  than  seven  hun- 
dred feet  above  the  level  of  the  river.  From  my 
paper  published  in  1872  I  quote  the  following 
sentences :  — 

"  This  elevation,  however,  is  great  enough  to  make  a  very 
decided  variation  in  the  temperature  and  surrounding  conditions 
from  those  of  the  valley,  and  hence  affords  some  interesting 
facts  relative  to  the  local  distribution  of  the  species  through  the 
same  area  of  country.  The  birds  of  the  Alleghanian  fauna  gen- 
erally are  found  on  the  mountain  sides  and  tops,  and  those  of 
the  Carolinian  fauna  in  the  valleys.  Of  course,  in  so  small  an 
area,  birds  of  both  the  above-mentioned  faunae  were  found  in 
either  of  the  localities,  but  the  above  seems  to  be  the  general 
rule." 


44  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

In  subsequent  parts  of  this  narrative  I  shall 
have  to  tell  something  of  the  geographical  distribu- 
tion of  North  American  birds,  and  I  call  attention 
to  these  few  short  sentences  as  indicative  of  gen- 
eralizations that  will  be  developed. 

Just  above  Coalburg  an  island  divided  the  river. 
This  island  was  heavily  wooded,  and  there  was  a 
very  dense  and  tangled  undergrowth  —  a  great 
resort  for  birds.  At  places  along  the  river,  though 
the  banks  were  generally  high  as  well  as  abrupt 
and  steep,  there  were  small  beaches  of  shingle,  and 
here  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  large-billed 
water-thrush.  When  I  first  saw  the  water-thrushes 
at  some  little  distance,  they  seemed  to  be  some 
kind  of  sandpiper  with  which  I  was  not  acquainted. 
There  was  the  same  tilting  motion,  the  same  rapid 
running  followed  by  a  pause  and  tilt  characteristic 
of  the  whole  group  of  sandpipers,  and  emphasized 
in  our  fresh-water  species.  All  the  habits  of  these 
water-thrushes  impressed  me  as  sandpiper-like; 
and  here  it  may  be  well  to  call  attention  to  a  fact 
that  has  always  seemed  to  me  of  particular  inter- 
est in  the  group  which  we  call  song-birds.  The 
matter  referred  to  is  the  reversion  to  ancestral 
habits  and  methods  of  life  among  this  kind  of 
perching  birds. 

Though  ornithologists  disagree  as  to  details, 
some  assigning  one  family  and  others  another 
as  the  highest  in  rank,  they  all  agree  that  the 


STUDENT  DAYS  45 

group  of  song-birds  represents  the  summit  of 
development  in  bird  life.  For  instance,  the  family 
of  thrushes  is  believed  by  some  to  be  at  the  pin- 
nacle, and  others  assign  that  place  to  the  family 
of  crows,  but  there  is  no  difference  in  opinion  as 
to  the  entire  group-position. 

Now,  throughout  the  sub-order  of  song-birds 
there  crop  out  habits  which  indicate  at  least  a 
likeness  to  ancestral  forms.  I  have  mentioned 
the  case  of  the  water-thrush.  Here  is  a  bird  near 
the  summit  in  the  scale  of  development  of  bird 
life,  an  example  of  a  high  type  of  bird  structure, 
whose  powers  of  song  are  among  the  best  of  his 
kind,  but  whose  habits  are  aquatic,  and  whose  very 
motions  suggest  at  once  an  affinity  with  a  very 
distant  family  —  the  sandpipers. 

Again,  one  cannot  see  a  nuthatch  climbing  a 
tree  without  referring  him  to  the  order  of  wood- 
peckers (PicicUe),  and  yet  he  too  is  high  in  the 
list  of  song-birds.  Who  has  ever  seen  a  shrike 
or  butcher-bird  kill  a  small  bird  or  mouse  and 
not  thought  of  hawklike  habits ;  and  the  water- 
ouzel,  common  in  the  streams  of  Colorado  and 
the  Sierras,  while  near  to  the  family  of  thrushes, 
is  as  truly  aquatic  in  its  habits  as  are  the  ducks. 
John  Muir,  on  page  277  of  his  book  "  The  Moun- 
tains of  California  "  in  his  charming  account,  has 
given  us  so  vivid  a  picture  of  the  life  and  beauty 
of  this  little  creature  that  I  fear  to  dwell  on  it. 


46  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

Suffice  to  say  that  no  duck  or  grebe,  no  penguin 
or  petrel,  more  fully  enjoys,  or  has  a  more  intimate 
acquaintance  with  the  mysteries  of  water  than  this 
thrush.  Swimming  and  diving  for  its  food,  with 
its  nest  built  under  some  brawling  fall  on  a  moun- 
tain stream,  and  never  away  from  the  water,  it 
is  as  eminently  a  water-bird  as  can  be  conceived, 
yet,  perched  on  some  wet  stone  protruding  out  of 
the  rushing  mountain  stream,  it  pours  forth  a  song 
which  rivals  that  of  any  of  its  compeers — the 
nightingale  or  the  shamah.  Without  question 
their  ancestry  is  indicated  in  many  of  our  song- 
birds. 

My  first  impression  of  Coalburg  was  of  the 
birds.  As  we  walked  to  the  house  from  the  land- 
ing —  only  a  few  steps  —  I  saw  a  colony  of  purple 
martins  which  occupied  a  cote  in  the  yard  where 
the  residence  stood.  Swallows  do  not  sing  much, 
and  their  twitter  is  heard  only  by  giving  close  at- 
tention. The  purple  martin,  largest  of  all  our 
American  swallows,  would  be  remarkable  if  only 
for  the  beautiful  polished  color  of  his  royal  coat. 
Added  to  this  his  great  affection  for  his  kind  (mani- 
fest in  colonies  where  many  pairs  associate),  the 
loud,  joyous  warble  of  mating  and  breeding  time, 
the  grace  of  flight  and  the  beauty  of  form,  com- 
bine to  make  the  martin  one  of  the  most  desir- 
able birds  about  a  country  place. 

Martins  are  curious  birds  in  disposition,  rather 


STUDENT  DAYS  47 

erratic  in  their  choice  of  breeding  grounds,  fond 
of  the  vicinity  of  man,  and  interesting  to  a  degree. 
Hardly  an  isolated  house  in  the  South,  whether 
mansion  or  hovel,  but  has  its  colony  of  them. 
These  birds  breed  as  far  north  as  Connecticut,  and 
even  Massachusetts,  but  only  very  locally,  and 
they  are  almost  unknown  in  many  areas.  In  the 
South,  a  pole  erected  in  a  yard  and  hung  with 
some  calabash  gourds,  having  a  round  hole  for  en- 
trance, will  always  attract  them,  but  in  the  North 
like  efforts  seem  in  vain.  Formerly  they  were 
common  in  New  Jersey,  but  now  are  rarely  seen, 
except  locally  and  as  migrants.  The  English 
sparrow  is  largely  responsible  for  the  exodus 
of  the  martin.  Both  birds  fancy  the  same  sort 
of  nesting  sites,  but  the  sparrow  being  a  resident 
in  the  land,  and  the  martin  a  migrant,  probably 
the  resident  has  taken  advantage  of  the  old  tradi- 
tion that  "  possession  is  nine  points  of  the  law." 
Alas  for  the  former  tenants  of  our  bird-houses 
with  their  gay  song  and  lovely  color ! 

During  my  stay  in  Coalburg,  which  was  a  most 
agreeable  one,  a  collection  of  some  five  hundred 
birds  was  secured  which  represented  eighty-six 
species,  many  of  which  I  had  never  seen  before. 
The  blue-gray  gnatcatcher,  the  Carolina  chicka- 
dee, the  tufted  titmouse,  Carolina  wren,  worm- 
eating  warbler,  the  cerulean  warbler,  the  yellow- 
throated  warbler,  the  large-billed  water-thrush, 


48  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

the  Kentucky  warbler,  the  hooded  warbler,  the 
summer  tanager,  the  rough-winged  swallow,  the 
cardinal,  the  Acadian  flycatcher,  the  pileated 
woodpecker,  red-headed  woodpecker,  the  least 
bittern,  and  the  little  blue  heron  were  some  of 
the  birds  that  I  had  known  only  by  reputation. 

Another  remembrance  of  the  time  is  the  pleas- 
ure of  my  association  with  Mr.  Edwards  and  the 
other  members  of  his  family.  Mr.  Edwards  was 
a  man  widely  known  as  a  specialist  in  butterflies, 
and  here,  this  study  was  pursued  with  vigor.  He 
taught  me  about  all  the  common  butterflies  of  the 
region;  showed  me  how  they  grew,  what  their 
development  was,  what  they  fed  on.  His  method 
of  procuring  specimens  for  his  collection  I  shall 
always  recall.  It  seemed  so  original  and  new  to 
me.  He  avoided  as  far  as  possible  catching 
butterflies  in  the  ordinary  way,  and  the  net  was 
employed  only  for  unusual  kinds.  Procuring  a 
male  and  female  of  a  given  species,  and  cover- 
ing the  plant  or  bush  on  which  the  young  cater- 
pillars would  naturally  feed  with  a  barrel  netted 
at  one  end  with  mosquito  netting,  he  introduced 
the  captives  alive  to  such  a  retreat.  They 
would  lay  the  eggs  and  soon  after  young  cater- 
pillars would  be  hatched.  Feeding  on  their 
natural  food,  protected  from  the  wily  ichneumon 
flies  and  other  enemies,  the  caterpillars  in  due 
time  changed  into  chrysalids.  Ultimately  from 


STUDENT  DAYS  49 

these  chrysalids  were  obtained  perfect  specimens 
with  not  a  scale  displaced  and  not  a  mark  to 
deface  them.  Mr.  Edwards's  son  shared  with 
me  my  interest  in  the  birds,  and  we  collected 
together.  The  summer  wore  away  with  many 
pleasant  occupations. 

One  of  the  first  things  I  did  on  arriving  in 
Cambridge  was  to  show  my  collections  to  Mr. 
Allen ;  he  seemed  much  impressed  by  them,  for 
they  included  many  birds  that  we  knew  but  little 
about  at  that  time.  He  drew  me  out  on  the 
subject  of  the  summer's  work,  found  what  kind 
of  notes  had  been  made,  and  asked  me  to  elabo- 
rate them.  This  I  did,  and  formulated  the  re- 
sults when  I  was  twenty  years  old  in  a  paper 
read  before  the  Boston  Society  of  Natural  His- 
tory, and  published  as  a  part  of  the  proceedings 
of  their  society  in  October,  1872.  It  was  entitled 
"  Partial  List  of  the  Summer  Birds  of  Kanawha 
County,  West  Virginia."  The  paper  in  question 
is  what  is  technically  known  as  a  faunal  list,  and 
in  1872  few  lists  of  this  character  had  gone  to 
press  in  this  country,  though  now  their  number 
is  legion.  This  was  my  first  original  contribution 
to  science,  and  the  initial  paper  published  by  any 
member  of  the  Nuttall  Ornithological  Club,  for 
at  this  time  the  club  had  not  issued  a  proceed- 
ing of  its  own,  the  first  bulletin  of  the  Nuttall 
Club  appearing  several  years  later.  The  mem- 


50  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

bers  of  the  club  always  found  some  medium  for 
their  contributions.  Forest  and  Stream  and  other 
journals  were  available  for  such  publications. 
The  readers  of  this  book  are  referred  to  the  second 
volume  of  the  Bulletin  of  the  Nuttall  Club  for  a 
more  detailed  account  of  the  society. 

Now  began  my  last  year  as  an  undergraduate 
student  at  Cambridge.  My  study  was  much  out- 
side of  books.  It  was  not  conventional.  Many 
of  us  still  concur  in  the  belief  that  all  knowledge 
is  to  be  gained  through  print.  Perhaps  this  was 
the  point  of  view  of  my  mother.  At  any  rate,  so 
far  as  I  can  remember,  the  only  real  anxiety  I 
caused  her  was  as  a  student.  A  student  outside 
of  books  was  an  anomaly,  and  there  are  many  yet 
who  fail  to  read  the  simplest  stories  that  are  told 
out  of  doors,  and  not  printed  in  the  orthodox  way. 
Throughout  the  entire  year  my  mother  feared  I 
would  not  get  a  degree,  because  in  order  to  do 
so  I  had  naturally  to  pass  a  difficult  examination, 
and  also  to  prepare  a  thesis.  That  instead  of 
applying  myself  in  the  conventional  way,  every 
moment  I  could  snatch  from  what  was  absolutely 
necessary  to  be  done  inside  was  spent  in  the  fields, 
was  to  her  a  source  of  worry.  Thus  it  went  on 
until  within  a  few  days  of  graduation.  When  I 
came  home  the  morning  after  my  final  examina- 
tion, knowing  the  result,  and  told  her  that  I  not 
only  would  graduate,  but  with  some  degree  of 


STUDENT  DAYS  51 

honor,  her  relief  was  great.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
on  the  day  when  the  final  Commencement  exer- 
cises culminated,  with  the  presentation  of  degrees 
to  the  men  who  graduated  at  Harvard  University 
in  1873,  my  friends  told  me  that  when  President 
Eliot  read  my  name,  he  added  the  words,  "  In 
Absentia."  I  was  away  in  the  woods  studying 
birds. 

During  the  last  two  months  of  this  college  year 
a  plan  had  developed  for  an  innovation  of  an  edu- 
cational nature.  The  idea  originated  with  Professor 
N.  S.  Shaler.  He  wished  to  establish  a  summer 
school  for  the  study  of  natural  history  somewhere 
on  the  Massachusetts  coast,  and  I  think  had  chosen 
Nantucket  or  Muskeget  Island  as  a  base  of  oper- 
ations. Professor  Louis  Agassiz,  returning  about 
that  time  from  a  trip  to  South  America,  and  hear- 
ing of  the  project,  indorsed  it  heartily,  discussed 
it  at  length  with  his  many  friends,  with  the  ulti- 
mate result  that  he  was  offered  the  privilege  of 
occupying  an  island  known  as  "  Penikese,"  in 
Buzzard's  Bay,  one  of  the  Elizabeth  group.  This 
belonged  to  a  gentleman  named  John  Anderson, 
and  he  not  only  granted  the  free  use  of  the 
island,  but  aided  substantially  in  the  erection  of 
buildings  for  the  proposed  school.  In  addition 
a  very  fine  schooner  yacht  was  given  by  another 
friend  for  dredging  and  fishing  purposes.  Let- 
ters sent  out  to  the  different  colleges,  normal 


52  THE  STORY  OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

and  other  schools,  throughout  the  United  States 
received  hearty  response,  and  an  unusual  body  of 
students  —  many  of  them  gray-haired  teachers  — 
men  and  women,  assembled  at  New  Bedford  one 
morning  late  in  June,  preparatory  to  embarking 
for  the  island,  distant  some  fourteen  or  fifteen 
miles  down  the  bay. 

The  story  of  Penikese  is  too  well  known  for 
me  to  dwell  on  it  here.  The  notable  opening  of 
the  school  is  not  only  historic,  but  has  afforded  a 
theme  for  one  of  our  poets.  Among  the  teaching 
staff  were  Louis  Agassiz,  Burt  G.  Wilder,  Edward 
S.  Morse,  B.  Waterhouse  Hawkins,  Alfred  Mayer, 
the  physicist,  and  Count  Pourtales,  who  had  charge 
of  the  dredging. 

My  first  impressions  of  Penikese  were  naturally 
of  the  bird  life  of  the  island.  As  we  approached 
it  that  day,  myriads  of  terns  rose  from  their  breed- 
ing grounds.  They  were  birds  with  which  I  had 
but  little  acquaintance.  Two  kinds  were  repre- 
sented, the  common  tern  and  the  roseate  tern. 
The  latter,  though  present  in  great  numbers,  were 
much  less  abundant  than  the  former.  Besides  the 
terns  were  many  of  the  commoner  land-birds  of 
Massachusetts,  notably  meadow-larks,  barn-swal- 
lows, a  number  of  sparrows,  such  as  the  yellow- 
winged  and  song  sparrows,  robins  and  blackbirds. 

At  Penikese  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  Mr. 
H.  H.  Straight  and  his  wife,  who  were  teachers 


STUDENT   DAYS  53 

in  a  normal  school  in  western  Missouri.  Mr. 
Straight  was  most  enthusiastic  both  as  a  teacher 
and  as  a  student.  There,  too,  was  the  principal  of 
the  same  school,  James  Johonnot,  and  his  daugh- 
ter. Among  the  students  were  Ernest  Ingersoll, 
Professor  C.  O.  Whitman,  then  an  almost  unknown 
man,  Walter  Faxon,  Charles  S.  Minot,  J.  W. 
Fewkes,  Winifred  Stearns,  David  S.  Jordan,  and 
others  who  have  since  become  notable  in  one  of 
several  fields  as  naturalists. 

I  returned  to  Cambridge  in  the  fall.  No  pro- 
fessional opening  presenting  itself,  my  studies 
were  again  taken  up  while  awaiting  and  looking 
for  a  position. 

Some  time  late  in  November  a  great  gale  raged 
on  the  coast  of  Massachusetts.  The  next  morning 
when  we  visited  Fresh  Pond,  as  we  often  did  to 
see  what  migrant  ducks  or  birds  might  have  come 
in  there,  we  found  the  whole  place  covered  with 
myriads  of  little  water-birds,  which  we  knew  were 
some  kind  of  strangers  from  the  North.  They 
rested  on  the  surface  of  the  water  in  incredible 
numbers,  and  many  sat  along  the  shore.  I  walked 
up  to  a  group  and  took  one  of  them  in  my  hand, 
for  the  birds  were  exhausted,  utterly  tired  out,  and 
seemed  bewildered.  He  was  a  dumpy  creature, 
seven  or  eight  inches  long,  with  very  short  neck, 
a  head  large  in  proportion  to  the  body,  and  black 
and  white  in  color,  with  almost  no  tail.  Webbed 


54  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

feet  were  a  part  of  his  equipment.  We  took  sev- 
eral home,  and  found  on  the  way  back  that  these 
birds  were  represented  in  great  numbers  all  along 
the  Charles  River,  and  that  many  had  been  caught 
in  the  streets  early  in  the  morning.  The  gale 
had  driven  in  and  imprisoned  these  strangers  in 
a  place  where  they  had  scarcely  ever  been  seen 
before. 

We  readily  learned  that  the  species  was  the  little 
auk,  or  dovekie,  a  common  arctic  bird,  breeding 
on  the  coast  of  Greenland  and  further  north  in 
countless  numbers,  wintering  as  far  south  as  the 
coast  of  Long  Island  and  New  Jersey,  but  keep- 
ing well  out  to  sea. 

The  name  of  the  genus  to  which  this  bird  was 
then  attributed  was  Mergulus.  That  afternoon 
I  took  a  pair  of  them  with  me  to  the  laboratory 
of  Dr.  Jeffries  Wyman  where  I  was  about  to  do 
some  work  and  attend  a  lecture.  I  showed  the 
birds  to  Dr.  Wyman,  who  was  much  interested 
in  my  account  of  their  advent,  and  proceeded  to 
give  him  what  I  supposed  was  the  scientific 
name. 

Now,  there  is  a  genus  of  birds  with  which  are 
associated  most  of  our  common  sheldrakes,  or 
saw-billed  ducks,  which  is  known  as  Mergus,  a 
name  similar  to  that  mentioned  a  few  lines  above. 
Wishing  to  display  my  newly  acquired  knowledge 
before  Dr.  Wyman,  I  called  the  bird  Mergus  alle 


STUDENT  DAYS  55 

instead  of  Mergulus  alle  which  was  its  proper 
name  at  that  time.  I  knew  Dr.  Wyman  as  a 
comparative  anatomist,  but  he  was  never  asso- 
ciated in  my  mind  as  a  systematic  naturalist,  and 
I  did  not  know  that  he  had  a  great  knowledge  of 
birds,  but,  without  referring  to  a  book,  and  by 
merely  glancing  at  the  birds,  he  said  at  once, 
"You  have  made  a  little  error;  the  genus  of  these 
birds  is  Mergulus  not  Mergus?  This  may  seem 
a  trifling  incident,  but  I  tell  it  because  it  strongly 
impressed  me  at  the  time,  and  is  only  one  of  many 
varied  recollections  that  have  given  me  a  growing 
respect  as  the  years  go  by,  for  the  great  attain- 
ments, the  singleness  of  purpose,  the  patience,  and 
withal  the  greatness,  of  Dr.  Jeffries  Wyman.  I 
think  perhaps  no  man  in  Cambridge,  save  Mr. 
Allen,  did  more  to  aid  me  on  the  road  I  have 
travelled. 

Of  course  Dr.  Asa  Grey,  with  whom  I  did 
some  botanical  study,  has  always  been  a  great 
inspiration  to  all  his  students,  —  but  primarily  my 
interest  did  not  lie  so  much  in  the  direction  of 
botany,  and  for  this  reason  my  work  in  that  field 
was  limited,  to  be  regretted  later. 

The  committee  who  conducted  my  oral  exami- 
nation for  graduation  at  Cambridge,  which  was  the 
concluding  function  after  my  thesis  and  written 
examination  had  been  scrutinized,  was  composed 
of  Professor  Asa  Grey,  Dr.  Jeffries  Wyman,  and 


56  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

Professor  Agassiz.  I  was  the  only  student  exam- 
ined, and  was  alone  with  them  with  my  heart  in 
my  boots.  Presently  I  discovered  that  these 
men  were  not  trying  to  find  out  what  I  did  not 
know,  but  rather  what  I  did  know  and  what  my 
attitude  and  feeling  were  toward  my  work.  This 
I  shall  never  forget. 

Professor  Agassiz  concluded  the  examination 
after  perhaps  half  an  hour,  when  I  thought  it 
had  hardly  begun  and  they  had  asked  me  but 
few  questions.  They  had  made  me  talk  and  had 
drawn  me  out  on  different  subjects,  much  as 
friends  would  have  done,  and  then  Mr.  Agassiz 
turning  to  me,  said :  — 

"  Mr.  Scott,  I  think  we  have  watched  your 
course  of  study  and  work  here  at  the  museum 
and  in  other  places  in  the  university  sufficiently 
to  be  aware  of  what  your  attainments  are.  We 
shall  recommend  you  without  further  exami- 
nation on  our  part  for  a  degree  as  Bachelor  of 
Science." 

During  my  last  year  at  Harvard  I  studied  in 
the  museum  until  some  time  in  the  following 
November,  continuing  my  scientific  association 
with  the  Nuttall  Club,  doing  some  field-work 
and  collecting,  and  familiarizing  myself  with 
the  more  important  classic  writings  of  scien- 
tific thinkers  —  Huxley,  Darwin,  Wallace,  and 
Tyndall. 


STUDENT  DAYS  57 

I  boarded  this  season  at  the  house  of  Miss 
Upham  on  Kirkland  Street.  Two  notable  peo- 
ple formed  part  of  the  group  at  the  table.  One 
was  the  poet  and  artist,  Christopher  P.  Cranch, 
who  gave  me  much  sympathy  and  encourage- 
ment, and  seemed  greatly  interested  in  the  study 
I  had  undertaken,  and  the  other,  a  law  student 
about  to  graduate  from  the  university,  was 
Charles  Bonaparte  of  Baltimore. 

In  November  I  received  a  letter  from  Mr. 
Straight  from  a  place  called  Warrensburg,  in 
Missouri.  He  said  he  wished  to  procure  the 
services  of  some  one  who  could  start  certain  col- 
lections of  natural  history  for  the  normal  school 
situated  at  Warrensburg;  that  he  had  written  to 
Professor  Agassiz  regarding  the  matter,  and  had 
been  referred  to  me  as  a  conscientious  field- 
naturalist  to  start  the  proposed  collections  and 
show  him  how  to  carry  them  on.  He  said  the 
work  would  be  Jfor  three  months  in  the  spring, 
beginning  the  last  of  March  and  ending  in  June, 
and  offered  me  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  per 
month  for  my  services  during  the  period,  if  I 
were  willing  to  entertain  the  proposition. 

After  some  consultation  with  my  people  at 
home,  and  after  thinking  the  matter  over,  I  ac- 
cepted Professor  Straight's  offer,  leaving  Cam- 
bridge permanently  in  March,  1874. 


CHAPTER   IV 

FIRST    PROFESSIONAL   WORK 

AFTER  a  brief  stay  at  home,  having  made  all 
preparation,  purchasing  and  packing  the  nec- 
essary material  for  procuring  the  proposed  col- 
lections, I  started  on  my  western  trip. 

Long  before  this,  my  brother,  having  spent  a 
year  at  Cornell,  concluded  that  he  would  make 
farming,  and  especially  cattle-breeding  and  rais- 
ing, his  future  pursuit.  Now  he  was  located  in 
a  small  town  in  southwestern  Kansas,  called 
Mound  City,  gathering  a  band  of  cattle,  which  he 
proposed  to  drive  across  the  plains  to  a  point  in 
the  vicinity  of  Colorado  Springs,  there  to  estab- 
lish the  nucleus  of  a  cattle  ranch. 

Warren sburg,  where  the  normal  school  of 
which  I  have  spoken  was  situated,  is  in  Johnson 
County  in  western  Missouri,  and  it  was  not  a 
long  journey  beyond  to  the  place  where  my 
brother  was  living  at  this  time.  Starting  a  few 
days  earlier  than  had  been  my  original  intention, 
I  went  direct  to  Kansas  City  and  thence  south- 
ward to  Mound  City  in  the  state  of  Kansas  to 
pass  a  short  time  with  my  brother.  I  have 

58 


FIRST   PROFESSIONAL   WORK  59 

forgotten  at  what  point  I  disembarked  from  the 
railroad  on  nearing  my  journey's  end ;  it  was  an 
obscure  station,  and  about  ten  miles  from  it  was 
the  town  mentioned. 

This  part  of  Kansas  is  as  characteristic  a 
prairie  region  as  any  in  the  United  States.  The 
plain  with  its  sky  horizon,  with  hardly  a  tree  to 
vary  the  monotony,  and  then  almost  uninterrupted 
by  fences,  afforded  a  new  sensation ;  nothing  I 
had  seen  before  in  the  way  of  landscape  was  at 
all  like  this.  The  wagon  road  from  the  railway 
station  to  Mound  City  was  simply  a  track  across 
the  prairie ;  and  it  being  early  springtime,  it  is 
perhaps  needless  to  say  that  the  roads  were  deep 
in  mud  —  and  such  mud !  It  seemed  to  me 
more  like  tar  —  black  and  sticky,  it  was  appar- 
ently of  unfathomable  depth.  The  top  soil  of  the 
prairie  at  this  point  is  probably  some  five  or  six 
feet  thick,  and  its  abounding  fertility  made  any- 
thing like  artificial  manuring  wholly  unnecessary. 
The  depth  of  the  soil  was  plainly  shown  in  the 
wagon-track  described.  Moreover,  this  was  a 
well-watered  country,  and  the  few  trees  apparent 
were  coincident  with  the  water-courses.  The 
streams  are  not  very  wide,  and  have  generally 
cut  a  channel  deep  into  the  face  of  the  country. 
Such  channels  are  like  miniature  canons  with 
abrupt  banks  which  hide  the  stream  flowing  at 
the  bottom.  The  fringe  of  trees  along  the  banks 


60  THE   STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

indicated  in  the  landscape  the  course  of  the 
stream. 

On  the  open  plain  were  flocks  of  horned  larks, 
assemblies  of  chestnut-collared  buntings,  while 
meadow-larks  were  ubiquitous.  Flying  overhead 
a  turkey-buzzard  might  occasionally  be  seen,  while 
now  and  then  a  sentinel  hawk  (genus,  Buteo\  from 
some  fence-post  or  other  point  of  vantage,  presided 
over  the  destinies  of  the  field-mice  and  smaller 
mammals  of  the  surrounding  area. 

It  was  only  when  the  streams  were  reached, 
with  their  bordering  trees  and  bushes,  that  the 
great  abundance  and  variety  of  bird  life  was  fairly 
to  be  appreciated.  Here  the  air  was  resonant 
with  the  songs  and  notes  of  many  birds.  The 
voices  of  the  mocking-bird  and  the  cardinal  rang 
out  everywhere,  and  were  fairly  rivalled  by  the 
cries  and  calls  of  two  kinds  of  birds  that  were 
present  in  great  numbers  —  the  red-headed  and 
red-bellied  woodpecker.  Sparrows  and  other 
small  birds  haunted  the  trees  and  underbrush, 
and  the  waters  of  the  creeks,  even  where  narrow, 
afforded  resting-places  and  feeding  grounds  for 
innumerable  ducks  which  were  then  on  their  mi- 
gration. Among  these  shovellers,  mallards,  and 
widgeon,  were  perhaps  the  most  common. 

Many  covies  of  quail  were  along  the  banks, 
and  in  the  adjacent  grass-lands.  The  proximity 
of  these  covies  indicated  a  "  bob  white  "  popula- 


FIRST  PROFESSIONAL  WORK  61 

tion  such  as  I  have  never  seen  equalled.  To  be 
sure,  as  will  be  told  later,  the  deserts  of  Arizona 
are  more  densely  inhabited  by  other  kinds  of  quail, 
several  hundred  sometimes  being  seen  together. 

At  Mound  City  I  spent  a  very  pleasant  week 
studying  the  local  conditions.  Among  the  birds 
I  recall  Harris's  sparrow  as  the  greatest  novelty. 
A  bird  of  the  same  genus  as  our  white-throated 
and  white-crowned  sparrows,  and  of  similar  habits, 
it  presents  a  difference  in  appearance.  The  sides 
of  the  head  are  dull  grayish  brown,  often  whitish, 
the  remainder,  glossy  black.  The  back  is  streaked 
much  as  in  its  allies.  The  chin,  upper  throat,  and 
breast  are  black  like  the  top  of  the  head  and  con- 
nected with  that  region  by  black  in  front  of  the 
eyes.  There  is  no  yellow  present.  The  two 
wing  bars  are  similar  to  those  of  the  relatives 
mentioned,  and  Harris's  sparrow  is  a  little  the 
largest  of  the  three.  The  same  quality  of  plain- 
tiveness  is  suggested  that  one  finds  in  the  song 
of  the  "  Peabody  bird." 

The  prairie-chicken  was  noticeable,  both  on  the 
plain  and  in  the  vicinity  of  cultivated  ground. 
Corn  stubbles  afforded  a  cover  to  its  liking. 
Just  in  front  of  the  little  hotel  in  the  village  was 
a  large  field  where  corn  had  been  grown  the  year 
before,  and  all  the  time  during  my  stay  the  call 
of  the  prairie-chicken  resounded  through  the 
stubble,  a  source  of  constant  wonder  and  delight. 


62  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

Arriving  at  Warrensburg,  after  arranging  for 
ways  of  living  and  a  place  to  work,  an  interview 
with  Professor  Straight  gave  me  an  idea  of  what 
he  had  in  view  in  the  way  of  collections.  These 
were  to  be  chiefly  ornithological  and  mainly  for 
study  purposes,  and  in  the  form  technically  known 
as  birdskins.  Each  bird  was  to  be  prepared  so 
that  it  had  the  appearance  of  a  dead  bird,  carefully 
labeled  with  the  locality  where  it  was  obtained, 
and  the  sex  and  date  of  capture.  Such  specimens 
could  be  handled,  examined,  measured,  and  com- 
pared, which  is  obviously  not  possible,  without 
damage,  to  a  mounted  bird.  I  also  prepared  a 
few  birds  in  characteristic,  lifelike  positions  and 
instructed  Professor  Straight  in  both  kinds  of 
work.  What  he  particularly  wished  me  to  do  was 
to  try  to  accumulate,  during  the  coming  three 
months  in  Warrensburg,  a  representative  collec- 
tion of  the  birds  of  that  region,  together  with  such 
a  series  of  each  species  as  would  not  only  afford 
facilities  for  comparisons  in  individual  variation 
and  other  problems,  but  would  also  give  him  a 
sufficient  number  of  duplicates  of  most  kinds  to 
enable  him  to  make  exchanges  with  ornithologists 
in  other  parts  of  the  country,  and  thus  round  out 
the  collection  to  more  than  local  proportions. 

Warrensburg  was  a  typical  Missouri  town  of 
the  period.  The  people  were  nearly  all  of  south- 
ern origin;  for  following  the  well-known  law  of 


FIRST   PROFESSIONAL  WORK  63 

migration  they  had  come  westward  from  Indiana 
and  Kentucky. 

There  was  little  to  attract  an  eastern  visitor  in 
the  appearance  of  the  place :  all  live-stock  ran  at 
large ;  the  pig,  genuine  razor-back  variety,  with 
its  numerous  progeny,  possessed  the  land;  the 
jimson-weed  ran  riot.  The  streets  when  wet  were 
deep  in  mud,  when  dry  deep  in  dust ;  the  board 
sidewalk,  laid  loosely,  and  often  graded  far  above 
the  roadway  with  projecting  nails  at  frequent  in- 
tervals, afforded  a  precarious  footpath.  Half-clad 
negroes  and  poor  whites  idly  lounged  on  the  busi- 
ness corners,  their  only  occupation  chewing  and 
spitting ;  the  cuspidor  adorned  the  houses  of  rich 
and  poor  alike. 

There  were  a  few  pleasant  and  well-kept  homes, 
each  in  the  midst  of  groves  of  trees  and  flowering 
vines,  but  they  only  served  to  emphasize  the  pre- 
vailing squalor  and  wretchedness  of  the  rest  of 
the  village. 

The  normal  school  was  the  oasis  in  this  intel- 
lectual and  material  desert.  To  this  school,  in 
the  reconstruction  period  following  the  war,  came 
a  host  of  bright  and  interesting  pupils  from  all 
parts  of  the  state,  eager  for  the  opportunities 
offered.  They  were  for  the  most  part  far  more 
appreciative  and  zealous  than  those  found  at  the 
seats  of  learning  in  the  East. 

A  stranger  was  amazed  to  find  this  small  village 


64  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

divided  by  difference  of  religious  belief  into  the 
many  sects  which  here  obtained  support.  In  the 
vernacular,  the  U.  P's.,  United  Presbyterians, 
C.  P's.,  Cumberland  Presbyterians,  Old  School 
and  New  School,  each  had  its  followers.  The 
Methodists  were  divided  according  to  their  south- 
ern or  northern  sympathies,  and  the  Christians, 
Baptists,  Episcopalians,  and  Roman  Catholics 
were  also  represented.  In  addition  the  colored 
people  had  their  Methodist  and  Baptist  organiza- 
tions. 

It  was  gruesome  in  one's  drives  to  have  certain 
historic  trees  pointed  out  as  the  scaffold  recently 
used  for  the  dramatic  exit  of  a  horse-thief  at  the 
hands  of  the  Vigilance  Committee.  No  less  than 
eleven  such  victims  had  met  their  fate  since  the 
war.  A  horse-thief  was  a  greater  offender  than  a 
murderer. 

Johnson  County  at  this  point  presents  a  very 
different  appearance  from  the  region  of  Kansas 
which  I  have  described.  The  country  is  undulat- 
ing, may  be  spoken  of  as  even  hilly  in  places,  and 
is  fairly  well  wooded,  the  forest  not  being  con- 
fined to  the  vicinity  of  the  watercourses.  To 
the  eastward  of  the  town  of  Warrensburg  and  at 
no  great  distance  are  prairies  of  considerable  area, 
nowhere  more  than  six  or  eight  square  miles  in 
extent  without  being  broken  by  the  hill-country. 
Withal,  this  country  is  extremely  well  watered, 


FIRST   PROFESSIONAL  WORK  65 

and  its  diversity  in  environment  naturally  makes 
it  the  resort  of  a  varied  bird  fauna. 

I  cannot  pass  over  this  part  of  my  life  without 
recalling  and  recording  my  impressions  of  the 
people  as  well  as  of  the  country  and  birds.  Here 
I  renewed  my  acquaintance,  made  the  previous 
summer,  with  Mr.  Johonnot,  who  was  at  the  head 
of  the  normal  school,  and  became  acquainted  with 
the  members  of  his  family. 

This  school  was  remarkable  as  a  radical  de- 
parture from  schools  of  a  like  grade  that  had 
existed  up  to  that  time.  Its  attitude  and  purpose 
is  best  told  in  an  article  devoted  to  the  subject.1 
The  fact  that  a  collection  of  birds  such  as  I  have 
described  was  deemed  an  essential  part  of  its 
equipment  indicates  something  of  its  character 
and  purpose. 

Students  in  the  school,  many  of  them  young 
men  twenty  years  old  and  more,  became  interested 
in  Mr.  Straight's  efforts,  and  aided  him  much  in 
the  work;  most  of  them  were  ardent  sportsmen, 
and  they  procured  some  of  the  most  valuable 
specimens.  The  local  gunners  were  ready  to 
afford  whatever  aid  they  could,  and  I  frequently 
went  with  one  or  another  of  them  on  extended 
trips. 

1  "  The  Story  of  a  School,"  by  Professor  James  Johonnot.  The 
Popular  Science  Monthly,  Vol.  XXXIV.  No.  4,  p.  496.  February, 
1889. 

F 


66  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

The  bird  which  they  call  the  jack-snipe  in  this 
part  of  the  United  States  —  really  the  Wilson 
snipe  —  was  on  its  spring  migration  from  its 
winter  home  to  its  northern  breeding  grounds 
during  April ;  and  I  must  record  the  incredible 
abundance  of  these  birds.  They  were  to  be  found 
on  the  damp  prairies  in  the  short  grass,  and  a  dog 
was  not  essential  in  hunting.  Having  arrived  at 
such  a  locality  (and  there  were  thousands  of  acres 
of  this  kind  of  land  close  to  the  town),  the  sports- 
man walking  through  the  grass  disturbed  at  every 
few  yards,  not  single  snipe,  as  one  does  in  the 
East  after  much  tramping  and  labor  with  a  dog, 
but  "  wisps  "  of  six  or  seven  individuals,  that  would 
go  darting  off,  zigzaging  away,  so  that  it  was 
exceptional  not  to  get  a  double  shot.  Single 
gunners  at  this  time  in  the  vicinity  of  Warrens- 
burg  frequently  bagged  from  seventy-five  to  one 
hundred  and  twenty  snipe  in  a  day's  shooting.  It 
was  only  a  matter  of  powder  and  shot,  a  good  eye, 
and  tramping. 

Most  of  the  birds  that  one  finds  represented  in 
the  Carolinian  fauna  of  eastern  North  America 
were  present  at  Warrensburg.  The  mocking- 
bird, however,  was  not  very  plentiful,  and  was  at 
this  point  a  migrant.  The  tufted  titmouse  and 
the  blue-gray  gnatcatcher  were  noticeable,  as  was 
the  Carolina  wren,  though  the  latter  was  not  com- 
mon. Along  the  streams  the  prothonotary  warbler 


FIRST   PROFESSIONAL  WORK  67 

was  very  abundant  during  May,  and  the  birds 
bred  in  numbers.  This  is  also  true  of  the  blue- 
winged  warbler  in  suitable  localities.  The  orange- 
crowned  warbler  was  one  of  the  plentiful  migrants, 
while  the  black-and-white  creeping  warbler,  the 
blue-backed  warbler,  the  yellow  rump  warbler, 
the  black-poll  warbler,  the  mourning  warbler,  the 
chestnut-sided  warbler,  the  cerulian  warbler,  the 
worm-eating  warbler,  were  among  the  rare  birds. 
The  yellow-breasted  chat  was  to  be  heard  every- 
where. Camped  out  near  some  stream  at  this 
time,  spending  several  days  in  localities  that 
afforded  particularly  good  collecting  ground,  I 
clearly  recall  my  sensation  on  hearing  the  still- 
ness of  the  moon-lit  night  interrupted  by  the  con- 
stant singing  and  noisiness  of  many  chats. 
Among  the  birds  characteristic  of  the  interior  re- 
gion of  North  America  that  were  common  in  the 
vicinity  of  Warrensburg  were  Bell's  vireo,  the 
chestnut-collared  bunting,  Lincoln's  sparrow, 
Harris's  sparrow,  the  lark-finch,  and  the  black- 
throated  bunting. 

Nowhere  have  I  seen  cardinals  and  blue  jays 
so  much  at  home  in  people's  front  yards  as  they 
were  in  this  town.  The  jays  were  quite  as 
domestic  then  in  the  streets  as  the  English  spar- 
rows probably  are  now,  and  were  less  shy  than  is 
the  robin  in  the  East.  The  red-bellied  and  red- 
headed woodpecker  were  noisy  and  numerous. 


68  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

Once  I  saw  a  single  swallow-tailed  kite,  and  buz- 
zard hawks  were  frequent.  The  wild  turkey 
was  reputed  to  be  still  a  resident  along  some  of 
the  creeks ;  I  fancy,  however,  that  it  was  nearly 
exterminated  at  that  time,  a  culmination  which 
has  undoubtedly  ensued.  Even  then  the  hunters 
regarded  the  killing  of  a  turkey  as  something  very 
much  out  of  the  ordinary,  though  it  is  well  known 
to  have  been  one  of  the  most  abundant  birds  in 
the  region  when  it  was  first  settled.  Prairie-hens 
were  still  plenty  in  this  part  of  Missouri,  and  there 
were  many  quail. 

One  of  the  common  migrant  birds  that  arrested 
my  attention  was  the  so-called  sand-hill  crane 
which  I  saw  frequently  and  heard  on  several  oc- 
casions passing  over.  Once  a  group  of  five  or  six 
of  these  birds  on  the  edge  of  a  prairie  some 
quarter  of  a  mile  away  performed  the  extraor- 
dinary manoeuvres  known  as  dances.  I  had  a 
good  look  at  them,  and  observed  all  the  bowings, 
genuflecxions,  and  pirouettings  that  have  been  so 
admirably  described  by  numerous  good  observers. 
The  whole  was  a  droll  spectacle. 

The  work  undertaken  was  completed  about  the 
middle  of  June.  Should  the  reader  care  for  de- 
tails as  to  the  birds  observed  in  this  region,  a 
paper  published  on  the  subject  is  cited  in  the 
appended  bibliography.  It  enumerates  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-eight  kinds  of  birds  as  the  result  of 


FIRST  PROFESSIONAL  WORK  69 

this  reconnaissance  —  because   it  can  hardly  be 
called  more  —  and  remarks,  — 

"  A  large  number  of  species  were  doubtless  overlooked,  and 
quite  a  number  had  left  the  region  before  the  date  of  beginning 
work.  The  country  is  particularly  rich  both  in  species  and  in 
individuals  of  the  several  kinds,  and  is  hardly  to  be  excelled 
in  these  particulars  by  regions  bordering  on  the  seaboard." 

After  a  short  visit  with  my  mother  in  Plain- 
field,  I  went  to  spend  the  summer  with  my  uncle, 
Charles  Scott,  who  had  become  the  owner  of  the 
old  house  in  New  Brunswick,  after  my  grand- 
father's death,  which  occurred  in  1871.  Here  I 
went  on  with  my  bird  study  and  looked  about  for 
new  professional  opportunities.  The  summer's 
work  was  broken  by  two  interruptions:  a  day  at 
the  school  at  Penikese  Island,  then  in  its  second 
year,  and  a  brief  visit  to  some  distant  relatives  in 
the  town  of  Princeton,  New  Jersey.  It  was  my 
first  acquaintance  with  the  latter  place,  with  which 
(though  I  did  not  know  it  at  the  time)  I  was  to 
become  so  familiar.  I  learned  during  my  stay 
that  the  trustees  of  Princeton  College  had  recently 
received  a  munificent  gift  from  the  Hon.  John  C. 
Green  for  the  erection  of  a  school  of  science. 
Of  course  a  new  foundation  for  scientific  study 
aroused  my  interest.  I  found  that  the  building 
was  erected  in  part,  but  that  it  would  not  be 
occupied  for  some  time  to  come.  The  whole 
country  about  Princeton  struck  me  as  particularly 


70  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

pleasing,  and  I  thoroughly  enjoyed  all  that  I 
saw. 

The  summer  wore  on,  and  at  its  close  I  went 
to  my  grandmother's  in  Brooklyn.  Here  I  stayed 
some  three  weeks  without  definite  prospects,  and 
the  good-natured  raillery,  jokes,  and  questions  as 
to  my  professional  outlook  caused  me  some 
chagrin,  and  gave  me  considerable  matter  for 
thought.  I  had  not  fitted  myself  with  the  idea  of 
becoming  a  teacher.  What  I  particularly  wanted 
was  to  be  connected  with  a  museum,  or  oppor- 
tunity to  work  as  a  field-naturalist.  Such  a  plan 
for  making  a  living  doubtless  seemed  chimerical 
to  practical  people. 

One  day  in  New  York,  happening  to  walk  up 
North  William  Street,  near  where  the  bridge  now 
terminates,  I  passed  by  the  shops  of  several  taxi- 
dermists. Over  the  door  of  one  of  these  was 
the  name  "  John  Wallace."  For  a  time  I  stood 
and  looked  in  the  window,  where  the  effigies  of 
many  poor  birds  and  beasts  standing  in  more  or 
less  awkward  positions  were  of  interest  to  me 
both  in  a  scientific  and  in  a  technical  way;  for 
before  this  I  had  become  a  taxidermist,  for  ornitho- 
logical purposes,  of  no  little  skill,  and  could  do 
with  my  hands  certain  work,  not  only  with  facility, 
but  with  great  rapidity  and  ease.  Long  since  I 
had  learned  one  of  the  things  that  had  first 
puzzled  me,  —  how  to  make  a  bird  stand  up. 


FIRST   PROFESSIONAL  WORK  71 

From  that  I  had  elaborated  ideas  as  to  mounting 
birds,  based  partly  on  what  I  had  seen  in  mu- 
seums, but  largely  suggested  by  my  familiarity 
with  life  out  of  doors. 

Now  I  began  to  realize  that  this  handicraft  had 
a  commercial  value,  and  thought  to  myself,  "  Here 
is  a  possible  way  at  least  of  making  a  living  and 
becoming  self-supporting."  I  went  in  and  asked 
if  John  Wallace  was  to  be  seen ;  a  stout,  dark- 
haired  man,  whom  I  shall  never  forget,  a  forceful- 
looking  man,  rather  short  in  stature,  and  with  a 
decided  cockney  English  accent,  told  me  that  he 
was  the  proprietor.  Briefly  I  stated  to  Mr.  Wal- 
lace what  my  accomplishments  were  as  a  taxider- 
mist, and  asked  him  if  he  would  give  me  a  job.  I 
was  not  quite  twenty-two  years  old,  smooth-faced 
and  juvenile  in  appearance.  He  looked  me  over 
with  apparent  interest,  and  finally  said,  "  When  do 
you  want  to  begin  ?  "  I  answered,  "  Any  time," 
and  he  queried,  "Now?"  "Yes,"  I  replied. 
"  Then  take  your  coat  off  and  sit  down ;  I'll  give 
you  something  to  do  to  try  you." 

Presently  I  was  seated  at  a  bench  in  company 
with  half  a  dozen  other  workmen ;  a  dozen  or 
more  bluebirds,  song-sparrows,  and  thrushes  were 
thrown  down  on  the  table  in  front  of  me,  and  Mr. 
Wallace  asked  me  to  skin  them  as  fast  as  I  could, 
poison  them,  and  then  show  him  the  result  of  my 
work.  So,  with  dirty  knives  and  scissors  of  an 


7a  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

entirely  different  pattern  from  those  to  which  I 
was  accustomed,  a  pile  of  meal  on  one  side  and 
some  arsenic  on  the  other,  I  set  about  my  task. 
Twelve  or  fifteen  birds  were  given  to  me,  none  of 
them  as  large  as  a  robin,  and  in  about  forty  min- 
utes I  told  Mr.  Wallace  I  had  skinned  them. 

"  You  haven't  skinned  them  all,  have  you  ?  "  he 
asked.  "  Yes,  all,"  I  answered.  "  Well,  you  must 
have  turned  out  pretty  bad  work,  or  been  careless 
in  some  way,"  he  went  on.  "  There  they  are,"  I 
said;  "look  at  them." 

I  have  spoken  of  my  facility,  but  I  did  not 
realize  it  then  myself.  A  kind  of  incredulous 
wonder  appeared  in  Mr.  Wallace's  face  as  one 
after  another  he  picked  up  the  skins  of  the  small 
birds  that  I  had  neatly  arranged  on  the  table,  and 
looked  to  see  where  the  fault,  if  any,  lay.  While 
he  did  not  commend  me,  after  looking  at  them 
carefully  for  a  moment,  he  said,  "  That's  all  right ; 
do  you  want  to  work  the  rest  of  the  afternoon  ? " 
It  was  then  about  two  o'clock.  I  said,  "  Yes," 
and  all  the  rest  of  that  afternoon  I  skinned  song- 
sparrows,  bluebirds,  fox-colored  sparrows,  white 
throated  sparrows,  hermit-thrushes,  and  warblers, 
until  the  pile  of  dead  bodies  in  front  of  me  was 
very  considerable.  When  the  time  came  for  quit- 
ting, I  asked  Mr.  Wallace  if  I  was  to  come  back, 
and  he  said,  "  Yes,  if  you  want  to."  So  far  nothing 
had  been  said  about  wages.  This  was  on  Thurs- 


FIRST  PROFESSIONAL  WORK  73 

day  afternoon.  I  found  what  the  hours  of  labor 
were,  they  began  at  eight  in  the  morning  and 
ended  at  six  o'clock  at  night,  with  an  interval  of 
half  an  hour  or  so  at  noon.  I  went  on  working 
for  Mr.  Wallace  until  Saturday  night,  when  we 
stopped  an  hour  earlier  than  usual,  and  for  what 
I  had  done  he  paid  me  ten  dollars.  He  told  me 
he  was  willing  to  pay  me  thirty  dollars  a  week  for 
the  next  few  weeks  at  least,  and  asked  me  to  come 
back  and  work  for  him,  which  I  did.  I  continued 
in  his  employ  from  some  time  in  October  until 
late  in  January,  living  and  lodging  at  my  grand- 
mother's house  in  Brooklyn. 

In  connection  with  my  labor  at  John  Wallace's, 
a  word  with  regard  to  the  attitude  of  the  public 
toward  the  shooting  of  song-birds  in  those  days 
seems  essential.  This  was  in  the  winter  of  1874 
and  1875.  During  the  three  months  I  spent 
in  this  shop  my  time  was  occupied  almost 
exclusively  in  skinning  native  song-birds  for 
millinery  purposes.  Early  every  morning  the 
local  gunners  from  Long  Island,  New  Jersey,  and 
the  environs  of  New  York  would  appear  at  the 
shop  with  the  previous  day's  bag  of  birds.  Noth- 
ing larger  than  a  wood-thrush  was  accepted. 
About  three  hundred  and  fifty  or  four  hundred 
birds  were  received  on  an  average  each  day. 
These  were  chiefly  the  following  species:  song- 
sparrows,  white-throated  sparrows,  fox-sparrows, 


74  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

swamp-sparrows,  various  kinds  of  warblers,  titmice, 
nuthatches,  wrens,  the  smaller  blackbirds,  swallows, 
and  thrushes.  Bluebirds  and  cedar-birds  were 
considered  by  far  the  most  desirable,  there  being 
a  great  demand  for  them  at  that  time  for  ladies' 
hats.  Something  like  seven  or  eight  cents  apiece 
were  paid  for  these  birds,  so  the  man  who  killed 
his  forty  or  fifty  per  day  made  good  wages. 

The  order  of  work  was  somewhat  as  follows : 
the  men  were  arranged  in  two  groups  —  there 
were  eight  of  us  altogether.  One  man  was  occu- 
pied in  winding  a  conventional  ball  of  tow  or  ex- 
celsior into  a  body  and  putting  wire  through  it  for 
the  neck.  He  also  poisoned  the  bird  skins  which 
the  first  man  at  the  table  simply  skinned.  The  third 
man  of  the  group  turned  the  reversed  skin,  after  it 
was  poisoned,  right  side  out,  and  having  put  a 
small  ball  of  tow  into  the  head  and  introduced  the 
artificial  body,  passed  it  on  to  the  fourth  man. 
This  one  finished  the  task  by  wiring  the  wings 
so  that  they  were  extended,  and  the  tail  so 
that  it  assumed  something  of  a  natural  position. 
The  birds  were  then  laid  on  a  board  to  dry,  and 
later  artificial  eyes  finished  the  job.  Later  they 
were  delivered  to  the  dealers  on  cards  which  held 
four,  there  being  three  cards  in  a  box. 

I  was  the  first  man  at  the  table  where  I  sat,  and 
did  the  skinning ;  this  was  all  I  did  for  a  long 
time.  Generally  I  skinned  anywhere  from  one 


FIRST   PROFESSIONAL  WORK  75 

hundred  and  twenty  to  one  hundred  and  fifty 
birds  per  day.  Sometimes  the  number  exceeded 
this ;  it  depended  largely  on  the  amount  of 
material  brought  in.  The  dull-colored  birds,  such 
as  some  of  the  sparrows  and  thrushes,  were  not 
particularly  desirable  as  adornments  for  hats,  fash- 
ion not  seeming  to  appreciate  the  beautiful  shades 
of  brown  that  nature  had  given  them.  As  a  final 
touch,  which  was  thought  greatly  to  enhance  their 
beauty,  feathers  from  bright-colored  birds  of  any 
kind,  orioles,  scarlet  tanagers,  and  various  foreign 
species  from  South  America  were  introduced  and 
fastened  among  the  feathers  of  the  bird  to  be 
decorated.  Song-sparrows  and  thrushes  were 
often  graced  with  scarlet  crowns  and  blue  patches 
on  the  rumps,  and  it  needs  only  a  little  imagina- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  reader  to  conceive  the 
grotesque  results. 

Two  points  seem  to  be  worthy  of  emphasis 
before  leaving  this  part  of  the  subject.  One  is 
the  value  of  manual  training.  Here  was  a  young 
man  apparently  furnished  with  all  the  intellectual 
resources  of  a  good  field-naturalist,  who  was 
seemingly  unable  to  find  a  market  for  that  which 
had  been  acquired  by  a  long  and  expensive  training. 
As  an  incident  to  the  intellectual  attainment  a 
handicraft  was  essential,  for  a  naturalist  must 
know  how  to  preserve  and  handle  the  material  he 
collects.  Just  in  the  beginning  this  seemed  to  be 


76  THE   STORY  OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

the  only  part  of  the  equipment  that  had  a  money- 
value.  It  is  not  a  little  remarkable  that  what 
first  impressed  the  trustees  of  the  institution  which 
later  employed  me  was  what  I  could  do  with  my 
hands. 

It  is  certainly  a  great  advantage  to  the  pos- 
sessor to  be  so  well  drilled  in  some  handicraft 
that  he  can  achieve  practical  results.  All  this, 
aside  from  the  undoubted  mental  discipline  that 
accrues  to  any  one  through  an  apprenticeship  de- 
manding manual  training.  He  in  time  arrives  at 
a  place  where  such  handicraft  (and  I  believe  that 
all  handicraft  must  lead  to  that  point)  becomes  a 
real  pleasure. 

The  other  point  is  the  change  in  public  senti- 
ment with  regard  to  the  use  of  birds  for  millinery 
purposes.  Legislation  has  not  been  so  vital  a 
factor  in  this  achievement  as  public  sentiment. 
Anything  in  the  way  of  study  or  reflection  which 
brings  home  forcibly  to  the  student  or  thinker  the 
economic  and  aesthetic  values  of  organic  life,  is 
productive  of  a  solicitude  only  now  beginning  to 
be  awakened.  So  far-reaching  are  our  uninten- 
tional acts  in  changing  the  fauna  or  the  flora  of 
a  given  region  that  great  care  and  foresight  must 
be  exercised.  The  ensuing  results  are  prodigious. 
The  extinction  of  a  given  kind  of  plant  or  animal 
may  be  the  result.  Hence  all  consideration 
should  be  given  to  positive  intentional  acts,  for 


FIRST   PROFESSIONAL  WORK  77 

the  wave  of  results  widens  from  a  centre  of 
action  as  do  the  waves  from  a  stone  cast  into 
water. 

My  stay  with  John  Wallace  continued  until 
some  time  in  January.  Early  in  that  month,  hav- 
ing thought  it  over,  and  recalling  my  visit  to 
Princeton  the  previous  summer,  I  concluded  to 
go  to  that  town,  call  on  some  of  the  authorities  of 
the  college,  and  find  out  what  opening  existed 
there.  Asking  my  boss  for  a  holiday  one  Satur- 
day, I  visited  Princeton,  called  on  Professor 
Arnold  Guyot,  and  laid  the  whole  matter  before 
him.  I  explained  to  him  that  I  understood  they 
were  about  beginning  a  museum  of  natural  history 
in  connection  with  a  school  of  science.  I  told 
him  where  I  had  studied,  and  what  little  I  had 
done ;  and  finally  asked  him  if  there  was  a  chance 
for  me  to  get  a  place  in  the  new  institution.  To 
enforce  my  proposal  I  suggested  that  I  would  be 
willing  to  work  on  trial  for  a  given  period  without 
compensation.  As  a  result  he  promised  he  would, 
after  consideration,  advise  me. 

About  two  weeks  later  I  received  a  letter  from 
Professor  Guyot,  stating  that  he  had  consulted 
with  the  college  authorities,  and  that,  from  Feb- 
ruary i  until  Commencement,  the  trustees  would 
employ  me  to  rearrange  such  collections  as  they 
possessed,  and  to  add  to  them  if  possible.  In 
return  for  my  services  they  offered  me,  during 


78  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

the  time  of  probation,  fifty  dollars  per  month,  and 
a  room  in  one  of  the  college  buildings  free  of  rent. 
Professor  Guyot  further  said  he  would  be  glad  to 
see  me  again  at  an  early  date. 

On  my  second  visit  to  him  we  agreed  that  I 
should  begin  during  the  month  of  February  at 
home  in  Plainfield,  making  collections  of  local 
birds  there,  and  that  some  time  early  in  March,  I 
should  come  to  Princeton.  Such  an  arrangement 
was  effected  because  there  was  no  place,  finished 
in  the  School  of  Science  where  anything  could  be 
carried  on,  nor  was  it  possible  to  move  any  of  the 
collections  that  already  existed  into  that  building. 


CHAPTER  V 

PRINCETON 

PRINCETON  COLLEGE  in  1874  and  1875  presented 
a  very  different  appearance  from  the  university 
of  to-day.  A  glance  at  the  conditions  at  that  time 
may  prove  of  interest. 

The  buildings  on  the  campus  were  Old  North 
or  Nassau  Hall,  the  chapel  directly  to  the  left 
as  one  faces  it,  and  a  little  beyond  the  Chancellor 
Green  Library,  just  opened.  Dickinson  Hall  too 
had  been  finished  but  recently,  and  the  final  work 
on  the  original  part  of  the  School  of  Science  was 
being  completed.  Back  of  Old  North,  East  and 
West  Colleges  formed  the  sides,  and  the  two  halls 
Whig  and  Clio  the  other  face  of  the  quadrangle. 
Reunion  Hall  looked  very  much  as  it  does  to-day, 
only  newer.  Going  west,  the  next  building  was 
the  new  gymnasium,  and  beyond  it  the  Halstead 
Observatory.  These  buildings,  and  one  other 
(that  now  used  as  the  university  offices)  were  all 
that  then  occupied  the  campus.  The  president's 
house  was  the  one  now  used  by  the  dean,  and  here 
I  had  my  formal  introduction  to  Dr.  McCosh. 

Stately  elms  and  other  fine  shade  trees  formed 

79 


8o  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

with  the  open  stretches  of  green  a  fitting  setting. 
Dignity  and  age  were  the  impressive  characteris- 
tics of  the  whole.  In  front  of  the  School  of  Science, 
between  it  and  Nassau  Street,  were  dwellings  of 
the  professors,  and  other  houses  stood  on  the  site 
now  given  to  the  Marquand  Chapel. 

The  personnel  of  the  Faculty  consisted  of 
nineteen  professors  and  tutors.  Notable  among 
these  was  the  president,  Dr.  McCosh,  with  whom 
one  had  but  to  come  in  contact  to  realize  his  force 
as  an  executive,  and  his  keen  intellectual  percep- 
tions. It  is  not  for  me  to  attempt  a  critical  esti- 
mate of  a  man  so  notable  as  Dr.  McCosh,  but  it 
is  pleasant  to  recall  his  commanding  presence. 
He  was  easily  a  leader  among  men,  and  in  an  as- 
semblage of  hundreds,  made  up  of  the  picked 
scholars  of  the  land,  his  was  the  most  distin- 
guished figure.  With  all  his  old  world  scholar- 
ship there  was  combined  the  most  fervent  love  of 
his  adopted  country. 

In  the  work  which  I  was  doing  he  always  mani- 
fested the  keenest  interest,  and  much  that  was 
accomplished  is  due  to  the  hearty  support  he 
gave.  Dr.  John  McLean  and  Professor  Stephen 
Alexander  were  prominent  among  the  older  men ; 
while  Professors  Atwater,  Schenck,  Duffield, 
Packard,  and,  last  but  not  least,  Professor  Ar- 
nold Guyot,  were  a  group  of  educators  typical 
of  the  time.  Among  the  men  who  had  recently 


PRINCETON  8 1 

assumed  position  in  the  college  were  Professors 
Brackett,  McCloskie,  and  Cornwall,  for  it  was 
not  until  some  time  later  that  Professor  Charles 
A.  Young  became  one  of  the  Faculty.  The  total 
number  of  students  at  this  time  was  four  hundred 
and  eight,  twenty-five  of  the  number  being  in  the 
School  of  Science. 

The  museum  with  which  I  became  connected 
occupied,  as  it  does  to-day,  the  upper  story  of  the 
main  part  of  the  School  of  Science  —  three  large 
rooms.  The  cases  for  the  reception  of  specimens, 
designed  by  the  architect  of  the  building,  were 
nearly  completed ;  and  even  then  it  was  apparent 
to  me  at  a  glance  that  they  were  not  well  adapted 
for  educational  or  exhibition  purposes.  The  pre- 
ponderance of  wood  over  glass  was  noticeable,  and 
the  dark  coloring  of  the  shelves  and  background 
was  not  calculated  to  aid  the  observer  in  seeing 
the  specimens. 

Besides  the  E.  M.  Geological  Museum,  which 
was  already  a  flourishing  part  of  the  college,  the 
natural  history  collections  at  Princeton  consisted 
of  a  considerable  number  of  badly  stuffed  native 
and  foreign  birds,  a  few  animals,  and  some  of  the 
commoner  reptiles  of  the  immediate  vicinity. 
These  were  all  mounted  collections,  and  of  no  value 
from  an  aesthetic  or  educational  point  of  view. 

The  courage  of  youth  is  traditional,  and  looking 
back  I  believe  that  without  it  I  would  never  have 


82  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

taken  my  first  radical  step  in  reconstructing 
the  zoological  collection.  After  looking  carefully 
at  the  material,  which  was  then  stored  in  the  upper 
room  of  what  is  now  the  university  offices,  I  de- 
termined to  destroy  most  of  the  existing  collection. 
It  doubtless  had  some  historic  value ;  that  was  all. 
So,  after  taking  out  the  artificial  eyes  of  many 
birds  and  other  animals,  all  of  which  were  in  a 
process  of  dissolution,  from  moth  and  age,  the  re- 
mains were  consigned  to  the  furnaces  then  in  the 
basement  of  the  School  of  Science. 

I  had  brought  with  me  from  Plainfield,  as  the 
result  of  the  month  spent  there,  between  forty  and 
fifty  mounted  specimens  of  local  birds.  Dr.  Guyot 
told  me  that  the  trustees  desired  that  these  and 
any  other  material  available  should  be  exhibited  at 
Commencement  in  the  new  museum.  It  was  hoped 
that  a  fair  showing,  indicative  of  future  results, 
would  be  made. 

Realizing  that  I  would  have  but  little  time  for 
field-work,  or  even  to  go  to  the  fields  to  obtain 
new  specimens,  I  looked  about  and  sought  advice 
as  to  some  local  hunter  or  sportsman  to  aid  me. 
Here  fortune  certainly  smiled.  I  was  recom- 
mended to  make  the  acquaintance  of  one  Charlie 
Hubbard,  a  negro,  who  had  the  reputation  not 
only  of  being  an  excellent  sportsman  and  good 
shot,  but  who,  it  was  said,  knew  much  in  general 
of  wild  creatures  out  of  doors. 


PRINCETON  83 

This  man  is  worthy  of  more  than  passing 
remark.  He  served  me  for  nearly  three  years, 
not  only  in  Princeton,  but,  as  will  presently  be 
seen,  in  other  fields.  He  was  one  of  the  most 
unerring  shots  it  has  been  my  fortune  to  meet. 
His  knowledge  of  birds,  especially  those  associated 
with  the  region  about  Princeton,  was  not  confined 
to  either  game-birds  or  the  commoner  species  — 
the  songsters  to  be  found  in  every  yard  and  gar- 
den—  but  he  knew  at  sight  and  had  names  for 
almost  all  the  smaller  birds  of  the  region.  How- 
ever, it  was  as  a  woodsman,  as  a  man  conversant 
with  nature  whose  knowledge  has  been  acquired 
by  intimate  association  with  it  at  first  hand,  that 
he  most  impressed  me.  The  first  two  or  three 
short  excursions  which  I  took  with  him  in  order 
to  find  out  whether  he  would  be  able  to  render 
real  assistance  convinced  me  how  valuable  his 
services  might  be  made. 

Every  passing  movement,  every  note  and  noise, 
the  stirring  of  a  leaf,  the  song  of  this  bird,  the 
cry  of  that  one,  the  language  of  the  squirrel,  the 
stealth  of  the  weasel,  were  full  of  meaning  to  him. 
The  signs  that  so  few  read,  but  which  are  a  story 
to  the  observant,  were  his  books.  Needless  to 
say,  I  found  that  he  did  not  simply  know  how  the 
birds  and  animals  looked  and  what  they  did,  but 
that  he  was  conversant  with  their  coming  and 
going,  the  place,  time  of  year,  and  method  of  their 


84  THE   STORY  OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

breeding,  what  they  fed  on  and,  in  short,  their 
general  economy. 

My  first  interview  with  him  was  an  entertain- 
ing one.  After  discussing  the  possibility  of  his 
working  steadily,  and  arranging  with  that  end  in 
view,  he  turned  to  me  and  said, "  You  know  there 
are  a  good  many  kinds  of  birds  in  the  woods  which 
very  few  people  have  seen,  and  some  which  I  do 
not  think  any  one  has  seen  but  myself." 

"  You  really  think  there  are  new  birds  in  this 
vicinity  that  no  one  knows?"  I  asked.  He  re- 
plied, "Yes,  I  am  sure  of  it."  "Well,"  I  said, 
"whenever  you  bring  me  a  bird  that  I  cannot 
show  you  is  already  known  to  men  who  have 
studied,  described,  and  perhaps  figured  it  in  some 
book,  for  that  kind  of  a  bird  I  will  give  you  one 
hundred  dollars  in  addition  to  your  regular  wages." 
This  made  him  open  his  eyes ;  but  at  the  same 
time  it  did  not  convince  him,  for  he  said,  "  You 
will  surely  get  some,"  and  I  fancy  counted  on 
spending  the  prize  money  he  would  obtain.  As 
his  work  rolled  on  through  the  years  with  me, 
he  appreciated  the  position,  and  with  it  came  a 
growing  respect  for  a  kind  of  knowledge  hereto- 
fore unsuspected  by  him. 

Of  his  antecedents  I  have  been  able  to  find  out 
little.  He  was  a  man  about  five  feet  nine  inches 
tall,  rather  slight  in  build,  but  of  fine  physique,  and 
of  the  general  character  that  is  described  by  the 


PRINCETON  85 

word  "  wiry."  His  color  was  more  that  of  an  Indian 
than  a  negro,  and  his  features  were  not  those 
associated  with  the  African,  but  were  more  aqui- 
line, and  indicated  Indian  ancestry.  His  hair  was 
long,  and  though  curly,  was  not  like  that  of  the 
typical  black  man.  In  his  movements,  the  Indian 
element  again  predominated.  There  was  a  stealth, 
a  noiselessness,  a  grace  and  lightness  wholly  un- 
like the  heavy,  clumsy  gait  of  the  field-negro  of 
the  South.  He  was  equally  at  home  on  land  and 
water.  No  one  I  have  seen  could  go  through 
the  woods  more  silently  or  pole  a  boat  up-stream 
more  noiselessly,  taking  advantage  of  every  bend 
of  the  shore  for  shelter. 

From  early  in  March  until  the  day  of  Com- 
mencement I  was  busy  in  accumulating,  mount- 
ing, and  preparing  specimens  for  the  collection, 
and  in  rearranging  in  the  new  cases  such  material 
as  remained  from  the  former  collections.  Being 
anxious  to  make  as  good  a  showing  as  possible, 
frequently  this  work  employed  me  until  late 
at  night,  and  it  is  needless  to  say  that  it  began 
early  in  the  day.  As  a  result,  at  Commence- 
ment there  was  on  exhibition  in  the  new  halls, 
no  vast  collection,  but  one  that  showed  growth. 
The  birds  were  all  mounted  on  natural  twigs  or 
branches,  for  even  at  this  time  I  had  determined 
that  the  traditional  "  T  "  stand  was  not  only  un- 
graceful, but  did  not  allow  of  sufficient  variation 


86  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

in  position  of  the  specimen  to  indicate  its  indi- 
vidual characteristics. 

As  a  result  of  my  trial  work,  which  seemed  to 
meet  with  the  approval  of  the  trustees  and  friends 
of  the  college,  I  was  engaged  at  an  advanced 
salary  for  the  next  year,  and  my  title  was  that 
of  Acting  Curator  of  the  Museum  of  Biology. 
Among  the  trustees  and  friends  of  the  college 
I  must  especially  mention  the  Hon.  John  A. 
Stewart  and  James  W.  Alexander,  Esq.,  both  of 
New  York,  whose  interest  in  the  museum,  and 
whose  kindness  to  me  personally,  proved  incen- 
tives to  further  effort. 

All  through  the  summer  and  fall  of  the  year 
1875  I  continued  steadily  to  prosecute  the  work 
of  accumulating  a  local  collection  of  the  birds 
of  Princeton,  chiefly  mounted  specimens,  supple- 
mented by  some  skins.  By  Christmas  time  some 
six  hundred  specimens  had  been  collected  and 
preserved  in  this  way. 

The  great  obligation  I  owe  to  the  late  Samuel 
J.  Stockton,  Esq.,  for  his  interest  and  aid,  should 
be  acknowledged.  He  allowed  me  the  full  run 
of  his  large  estate,  "  Morven,"  where  some  of  the 
most  valuable  material  in  the  way  of  birds  for  the 
museum  were  secured.  Richard  Conover,  Esq., 
of  South  Amboy,  also  became  a  friend,  and 
it  was  through  his  instrumentality  that  I  made 
the  first  expedition  for  the  purpose  of  increas- 


PRINCETON  87 

ing  the  collection  of  the  college  museum.  He 
told  me  in  the  fall  of  1875  of  a  part  of  Florida 
where  he  had  purchased  an  old  Spanish  grant 
of  some  two  thousand  acres.  Here  he  had 
undertaken  to  cultivate  what  was  at  that  time 
an  almost  unknown  crop  in  the  United  States, 
—  the  orange.  He  aroused  my  curiosity  and 
excited  my  enthusiasm  by  his  glowing  descrip- 
tions of  the  country  where  he  was  carrying  out 
his  project.  His  stories  of  the  game  and  fish, 
of  the  birds  and  beasts,  of  the  trees  and  flowers,  of 
the  rivers  and  woods,  determined  me  to  make  a 
more  intimate  acquaintance  with  them.  Finally 
he  invited  me  to  make  his  plantation  my  head- 
quarters, if  I  could  arrange  to  go  to  Florida. 

I  consulted  several  of  the  trustees  on  the 
subject,  notably  Mr.  Stewart.  He  and  the  late 
William  E.  Dodge,  Esq.,  of  New  York,  made  it 
possible  for  me  to  undertake  the  expedition,  on 
which  I  started  the  day  after  Christmas. 

Mr.  Conover  had  discoursed  to  me  of  the  water- 
ways of  Florida,  and  the  necessity  of  having  some 
kind  of  a  boat ;  hence  a  light,  portable  metal  row- 
boat  was  part  of  the  baggage,  and  the  kind  of 
stores  and  supplies  essential  in  making  collec- 
tions completed  the  equipment.  As  a  factotum  I 
took  with  me  Charlie  Hubbard. 

Florida  in  1875  had  no  railroads  south  of 
Jacksonville.  In  fact,  the  only  railroad  of  conse- 


88  THE  STORY  OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

quence  in  the  state  was  the  one  from  that  point 
to  Cedar  Keys.  Arriving  at  Jacksonville,  we  took 
a  primitive  steamer  on  the  St.  Johns  to  Palatka, 
and  here  disembarked,  and  following  the  instruc- 
tions given  by  Mr.  Conover,  reembarked  on  an 
even  more  antiquated  boat,  a  stern-wheeler  of  the 
wheelbarrow  type,  which  carried  us  up  the  Ockla- 
waha  River  to  its  headwaters  at  Silver  Spring. 
The  Ocklawaha  presented  at  this  time  a  picture 
of  exuberant  bird  life  along  its  banks  and  in  the 
trees  that  overhung  the  stream ;  I  had  almost  said 
in  the  ceiling  of  trees,  because  the  river  was  so 
narrow  and  winding  that  there  were  only  short 
intervals  where  the  branches  did  not  meet  over- 
head and  hang  above  the  steamer's  deck. 

Among  the  water-birds,  the  water-turkey,  or 
darter,  two  kinds  of  beautiful  white  herons,  the 
little  blue  heron,  the  Louisiana  heron,  the  great 
blue  heron,  and  the  rosy  spoonbill  were  all  con- 
spicuous. White  and  wood  ibises  were  constantly 
startled  from  the  banks  or  limbs  by  the  progress 
of  the  boat.  Among  the  land-birds,  woodpeckers 
of  many  kinds  were  everywhere,  paroquets  in 
flocks  of  from  forty  to  a  hundred  were  seen  con- 
stantly, and  as  for  the  smaller  bird  life,  the  woods 
fairly  teemed  with  it.  Five  or  six  times  as  we 
ascended  the  stream  large  flocks  of  wild  turkeys 
were  to  be  observed  close  along  the  banks.  In 
short,  never  had  my  wildest  fancy  painted,  not 


PRINCETON  89 

only  so  many  kinds  of  birds  at  one  point,  but  such 
a  vast  multitude  of  representatives  of  the  several 
kinds. 

Nor  was  the  feathered  life  the  sole  interest. 
Alligators  constantly  swam  in  front  of  the  steamer, 
or  basked  somnolent  in  the  sun  on  the  bank. 
Many  of  them  were  huge  creatures,  though  they 
were  of  all  sizes. 

The  Ocklawaha  winds  through  a  succession  of 
cypress  swamps,  and  these  stately  trees,  festooned 
with  many  parasitic  plants  and  draped  with  the 
pendant  Spanish  moss,  formed  a  fitting  setting  to 
this  theatre  of  life.  Frequently,  at  higher  points 
on  the  banks  of  the  river,  groves  of  wild  orange 
trees  might  be  seen  as  part  of  the  undergrowth 
of  the  live-oak  forests  which  occupied  the  drier 
regions  through  which  the  river  passed.  All  this 
gives  but  a  faint  idea  of  the  prodigality  with  which 
nature  had  adorned  this  most  marvellous  region. 
Words  are  feeble  to  paint  it. 

Our  journey  was  terminated  at  Silver  Spring,  a 
wonderful  pool  of  water  some  two  hundred  feet 
across  and  almost  circular,  the  depth  and  clearness 
of  which  gave  a  singular  sensation  to  one  riding 
in  a  boat  on  its  surface.  It  seemed  almost  as  if 
one  were  suspended  in  the  air.  We  disembarked 
at  a  tiny  wharf,  and  the  only  building  which  in- 
terrupted the  beauty  of  the  sylvan  scene  was  the 
"  warehouse,"  a  kind  of  shed  just  back  of  the  wharf. 


9o  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

My  objective  point  was  Panasofkee  Lake,  a 
sheet  of  water  in  Sumter  County,  fifty  or  sixty 
miles  from  Silver  Spring,  almost  south  of  it. 
After  much  searching  a  venerable  negro  with  a 
team  of  oxen  and  the  rudest  of  wagons  was  found 
to  carry  us  and  our  luggage,  conspicuous  among 
which  was  the  metal  boat,  to  our  destination.  We 
were  two  days  and  nights  and  part  of  another  day 
on  the  road,  going  through  a  region  which  pre- 
sented new  wonders  as  each  mile  was  traversed. 
About  noon  on  the  third  day  we  reached  the 
plantation,  and  were  welcomed  by  the  overseer. 

The  buildings  were  a  dwelling-house,  another 
small  house  built  for  Mr.  Conover's  use,  and  a 
log  cabin  containing  the  kitchen  and  dining 
room.  Everything  was  placed  at  my  disposal, 
and  we  were  soon  busy  settling  our  quarters  and 
preparing  for  work. 

Distant  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  front  of 
the  house  ran  the  outlet  from  the  lake,  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  away.  The  "  run,"  as  it  was  called,  was 
a  very  considerable  stream,  a  gunshot  wide,  one 
of  the  main  branches  of  the  Withlacoochee  River. 
All  about,  except  where  a  clearing  had  been 
made  for  the  proposed  orange-grove,  was  a  prime- 
val forest.  The  plantation  itself  was  chiefly  what 
is  known  in  Florida  as  a  "hammock."  The 
smaller  trees  consisted  of  different  species  of  bay 
and  magnolia,  -  interspersed  with  groves  of  wild 


PRINCETON  91 

sour  oranges.  The  fine-leafed  water-oaks  grew 
everywhere.  Shading  all  these,  and  towering  high 
above  them,  were  the  giant  live-oaks,  often  five  or 
six  feet  through  near  the  ground,  and  with  spread- 
ing limbs  extending  seventy-five  feet  on  either 
side.  It  will  give  an  idea  of  the  size  of  these 
trees  and  the  difficulty  in  felling  them  when  the 
reader  learns  that  the  usual  method  of  clearing 
the  land  was  to  girdle  them  near  the  ground,  let 
them  die,  and  then  cut  down  the  smaller  ones,  the 
huge  skeletons  of  the  live-oaks  standing  for  years 
afterward. 

In  many  places  in  Florida  there  were  at  this 
time  extensive  groves  of  wild  oranges.  Univer- 
sally they  flourished  beneath  the  shade,  and  were 
protected  by  large  trees.  Frost  nor  sun  nor  wind 
injured  them  in  such  situations,  and  they  bore 
luxuriant  crops.  No  hint  seems  to  have  been 
taken,  from  such  conditions,  by  the  fruit  grower. 
The  ensuing  result  tells  its  own  story. 

Panasofkee  Lake  itself  is  a  sheet  of  water  eight 
miles  long  and  some  four  miles  wide  in  its  broad- 
est expanse.  The  country  about  it  was  then 
practically  unsettled.  There  were  but  few  houses, 
and  these  occurred  at  long  intervals,  so  that  we 
had  reached  an  almost  virgin  wilderness.  The 
outlet  of  the  lake  flowed  between  that  body  of 
water  and  the  Withlacoochee  River.  This  "  run  " 
wended  its  course  for  some  two  miles  before  it 


92  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

reached  the  main  stream,  which  was  one  of  the 
characteristic  rivers  of  Florida,  very  similar  in 
appearance  to  the  Ocklawaha  before  the  advent 
of  the  hunters. 

Along  the  "run  "  were  groves  of  cypress,  and  its 
marshy  banks  were  fringed  with  saw-grass.  Just 
in  front  of  the  house  this  had  been  cleared  away, 
leaving  an  open  space  on  the  bank.  The  "  run  " 
afforded  a  highway  morning  and  evening  for 
great  troops  of  water-birds,  —  ducks,  herons,  and 
ibises,  —  which  spent  their  days  feeding  at  points 
on  the  river,  and  returned  at  night  to  roost  some- 
where on  the  borders  of  the  lake.  In  the  morn- 
ing and  evening  this  crowded  thoroughfare 
formed  a  most  lively  and  interesting  spectacle. 
Game  was  abundant  in  the  woods  about,  deer  and 
bear  frequently  coming  close  to  the  house,  and 
wild  turkeys  could  be  heard  gabbling  at  sunrise 
and  sunset.  The  nearest  neighbors  were  located 
some  five  miles  away,  which  will  emphasize  the 
remoteness  of  the  plantation. 

Space  forbids  dwelling  in  these  pages  on  the 
details  of  the  stay  at  this  point,  except  to  notice 
one  or  two  of  the  most  salient  ornithological 
features  that  the  fauna  of  this  lake  presented. 

On  its  shore  were  large  swamps  with  great 
areas  of  low-growing  willows,  and  these  were  the 
roosting  places  in  winter  and  the  breeding  places 
in  summer  of  myriads  of  water-birds,  —  herons, 


PRINCETON  93 

and  ibises.  Before  our  departure  thousands  of 
snowy  herons  and  large  white  egrets  had  as- 
sembled, built  their  nests  and  laid  their  eggs  in 
this  willow  swamp.  Approached  from  the  lake 
it  presented  the  appearance  in  the  distance  of  a 
miraculous  circus-tent,  of  so  prodigious  a  size  that 
it  appeared  to  cover  at  least  a  mile  with  its  front. 
A  better  simile  would  be  the  snowy  peak  of 
some  mountain-range,  except  that  the  whole  was 
so  near  the  lake-level,  the  willow  trees  being  not 
more  than  ten  or  twelve  feet  high  at  any  place. 

At  another  place  near  the  cypress  along  the 
edge  of  the  lake  large  flocks  of  ducks  might  be 
seen  on  the  sheltered  surface  at  almost  any  time 
during  my  stay ;  and  I  can  only  liken  the  flocks 
of  fresh-water  coots  to  great  black  rafts.  The 
birds  were  as  close  together  as  they  could  sit  on 
the  water. 

But  there  were  two  birds  at  Panasofkee  Lake 
that  produced  a  greater  impression  on  me  than 
anything  else ;  the  first  was  the  limpkin  or  giant 
courlan,  or  better  still,  the  crying  bird,  which  was 
extremely  numerous  and  very  tame.  During  the 
mating  and  breeding  season,  which  was  coinci- 
dent with  my  stay  at  Panasofkee,  these  birds  were 
very  noisy.  Their  cry  is  most  ear-piercing  and 
penetrating.  It  is  to  be  likened  to  repeated  cries 
of  some  one  in  great  distress;  and  when  I  say 
that  frequently  companies  of  from  ten  to  fifty  of 


94  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

these  birds  would  assemble  on  the  bank  of  the 
"run"  just  after  dark  —  for  they  were  somewhat 
nocturnal  in  their  habits  —  and  begin  a  chorus 
of  this  description,  it  will  give  some  idea  of  the 
din  which  prevented  my  sleeping  the  night  after 
our  arrival.  Charlie  Hubbard  was  sent  out  to 
drive  the  birds  away,  as  I  knew  they  were  close  at 
hand.  He  did  so,  but  had  hardly  returned  to  the 
house  before  the  uproar  began  anew.  I  sent  him 
back  again,  and  after  killing  a  number  with  a 
stick,  the  rest  were  sufficiently  frightened  to  re- 
main at  a  more  reasonable  distance.  On  sub- 
sequent nights  I  had  frequently  to  wage  warfare 
on  these  noisy  creatures. 

The  courlan  is  a  kind  of  rail,  the  size  of  an 
ordinary  fowl,  but  with  long  legs,  neck,  and  bill,  so 
that  the  bird  stands  something  over  two  feet  high 
when  erect.  The  plumage  is  of  a  beautiful  brown 
bronze,  glossed  with  deep  green  and  speckled  with 
irregular  triangular-shaped  silver-white  spots. 

The  other  bird,  which  in  all  my  subsequent 
wanderings  in  Florida  I  have  never  once  en- 
countered, was  the  everglade  kite  or  snail- 
hawk.  This  is  a  bird  not  unlike  the  marsh- 
hawk  in  general  appearance,  and  decorated  on 
the  rump  with  a  similar  conspicuous  white  patch. 
The  male  is  a  dark  lead  color,  and  the  female 
brown,  somewhat  variegated  with  lighter  markings. 
Both  the  bill  and  claws  of  these  hawks  are  partic- 


PRINCETON  95 

ularly  slender  and  curved.  I  found  the  everglade 
kite  was  a  very  plentiful  bird  at  Panasofkee 
Lake,  discovered  that  it  was  a  migrant  and  grega- 
rious in  its  habits,  so  that  frequently  a  dozen  or 
more  were  seen  together.  The  name  "snail- 
hawk  "  is  of  local  origin,  and  has  to  do  with  the 
habits  of  the  bird.  At  this  point  their  food  con- 
sisted almost  entirely  of  a  fresh-water  snail  of 
large  size  which  was  common  in  the  shallower 
regions  of  the  lake,  where  the  water  is  not  more 
than  a  foot  or  eighteen  inches  deep.  Over  such 
areas  these  birds  hunted  very  much  as  the  marsh- 
hawk  does  over  the  fields.  Perceiving  a  snail, 
they  dove,  caught  it,  and  retired  with  it  to  some 
favorite  branch  near  by,  when  the  slender  hooked 
beaks  and  claws  were  used  to  extract  the  inhabit- 
ant from  its  shell.  This  was  done  with  so  much 
precision  and  care  that  a  shell  was  seldom  defaced 
or  the  operculum  broken.  One  had  only  to  look 
at  the  great  mounds  of  these  snail-shells  under  the 
favorite  lighting  places  of  these  hawks  to  be  aware 
of  what  multitudes  inhabited  the  lake  and  what 
numbers  the  hawks  destroyed.  The  everglade 
kite  bred  commonly  at  points  on  the  lake,  and 
had  just  completed  its  nest-making  the  end  of 
March.  Though  a  fine  series  of  the  birds  had 
been  collected,  some  forty  in  all,  their  numbers 
seemed  in  no  way  diminished. 

Now,  the  curious  point  in  relation  to  the  two 


96  THE   STORY  OF   A  BIRD   LOVER 

birds  mentioned,  the  giant  courlan  and  the  ever- 
glade kite,  which  even  the  tyro  knows  are  widely 
separated  forms  of  bird  life,  is  that  both  resorted 
to  this  spot  to  feed  on  precisely  the  same  kind 
of  food.  The  large  fresh-water  snail  is  almost 
exclusively  the  food  of  the  giant  courlan  and 
entirely  the  food  of  the  everglade  kite.  The 
reader  is  referred  for  details  to  a  paper  published 
as  a  result  of  my  explorations  of  this  region,  deal- 
ing with  the  subject  at  length. 

During  my  stay  Mr.  Conover  visited  his  planta- 
tion, remaining  some  ten  days,  and  we  enjoyed 
many  hunting  and  fishing  trips  together. 

Panasofkee  Lake  was  left  somewhere  about 
the  20th  of  March,  with  very  satisfactory  and  ex- 
tensive collections,  which,  besides  birds,  embraced 
many  specimens  of  alligators  and  other  animals 
and  reptiles  characteristic  of  this  part  of  Florida, 
the  whole  making  a  freight-load  for  a  six-ox  team 
to  Silver  Spring. 

Princeton  was  reached  again  on  April  2,  and 
shortly  after  the  Florida  collections  arrived.  Be- 
tween this  time  and  Commencement  I  was  able 
to  place  much  of  the  material  on  exhibition, 
though  even  at  the  present  day  the  large  series  of 
bird  skins  brought  back  from  Sumter  County  are 
seen  only  by  the  special  student,  or  by  such  in- 
quirers as  are  more  particularly  interested  in  birds. 
These  are  all  stored  away  in  cabinets,  secure  from 


PRINCETON  97 

light  and  dust  as  well  as  from  other  enemies,  and 
look  to-day  much  as  they  did  when  they  were 
collected,  over  twenty-five  years  ago. 

By  the  second  Commencement  after  coming  to 
Princeton,  the  museum  began  to  assume  an  air  of 
growth  and  prosperity.  There  were  no  longer 
cases  absolutely  empty,  though  the  array  in  some 
of  them  was  sparse  and  meagre. 

In  the  autumn  I  made  a  short  trip  to  the  coast 
of  New  Jersey  to  secure  specimens  of  gulls,  ducks, 
and  sea-birds.  The  successful  undertaking  was 
largely  due  to  one  of  the  trustees  of  Princeton 
College,  since  dead,  Henry  M.  Alexander,  Esq., 
of  New  York,  who  always  gave  generously  when- 
ever asked  to  aid  in  building  up  the  new  college 
museum.  This  trip  to  the  New  Jersey  coast  had  a 
large  influence  on  the  work  for  the  coming  year. 
During  this  short  exploration  the  necessity  of  de- 
veloping what  might  be  called  the  Marine  Ornith- 
ology of  New  Jersey  in  the  collections  became 
evident,  and  plans  were  matured  for  a  protracted 
stay  to  that  end,  at  the  same  point,  during  the 
coming  spring  and  summer  of  the  year  1877. 

A  shooting  lodge,  kept  by  a  man  named  Joe 
Ridgway,  stood  some  three  miles  south  of  Barne- 
gat  Inlet,  on  the  outside  beach.  Here  I  made 
my  headquarters.  "  The  beach,"  as  it  is  called 
(a  long  stretch  of  islands  off  the  Jersey  coast), 
where  this  lodge  was  situated,  is  six  miles  from 


98  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

the  mainland,  a  large  bay  intervening.  At  this 
time  the  buildings  in  connection  with  the  light- 
house and  the  lodge  some  three  miles  away,  for 
the  accommodation  of  gunners  and  sportsmen, 
were  the  only  houses  for  ten  or  twelve  miles. 
The  region  was  then  a  famous  one  for  wild 
ducks  and  geese  in  the  fall  and  spring,  and  for 
bay-bird  shooting  in  the  spring  and  late  sum- 
mer months.  Very  considerable  colonies  of 
terns  still  bred  here  and  on  the  adjacent  islands, 
and  a  little  to  the  south  was  a  vast  colony  of 
laughing  gulls. 

The  museum  work  was  continued  until  about 
March  20,  1877.  I  then  arranged  to  be  away 
from  the  college  for  the  rest  of  the  year,  except 
for  a  few  days  at  Commencement.  In  June  of 
this  year  my  marriage  took  place  at  Ithaca,  and 
Mrs.  Scott  returned  with  me  to  Barnegat.  For 
the  next  five  months,  that  is,  from  April  i  to 
September  i,  I  collected  the  birds  of  the  coast, 
as  well  as  many  marine  animals  which  were 
preserved  in  alcohol  for  laboratory  use.  As  far 
as  the  bird-work  of  this  time  is  concerned,  ref- 
erence is  made  to  a  paper  published  on  the 
subject  cited  in  the  appendix. 

It  may  be  well,  however,  in  this  connection,  to 
get  a  panoramic  view  of  the  bird  life  of  the  sea- 
coast  of  New  Jersey  in  1877.  This  was  still  the 
breeding  ground  of  great  numbers  of  terns  and 


PRINCETON  99 

laughing  gulls.  In  addition,  in  the  vicinity  was 
a  small  colony  of  black  skimmers.  I  saw  them 
constantly  during  the  summer  spent  at  Barnegat, 
but  generally  only  in  pairs,  and  never  more  than 
five  or  six  individuals  together.  There  were  be- 
side vast  quantities  of  game-birds  in  the  way  of 
ducks  and  geese,  and  the  land-birds  present  are 
fully  dealt  with  in  the  paper  I  have  mentioned. 

At  this  time  Barnegat  was  a  Mecca  for  sports- 
men, and  still  is,  so  far  as  fishing  is  concerned; 
but  the  persecution  of  the  gulls  and  terns  by  egg 
hunters,  and  the  almost  incessant  gunning  for 
ducks,  geese,  and  bay-birds,  have  had  the  inevi- 
table result.  The  terns  and  gulls  have  been 
practically  exterminated  as  breeding  birds  in  the 
region,  and  the  numbers  of  game-birds  have  been 
so  largely  decreased  that  few  sportsmen  care  to 
visit  what  was  once  a  famous  resort. 

In  concluding  the  sketch  of  this  part  of  my 
career,  I  must  introduce  a  friend  who  was  con- 
stantly with  me  from  the  spring  of  1875  for  six- 
teen years.  In  the  spring  of  1875  a  setter  bitch 
which  I  owned  had  a  litter  of  very  fine  puppies. 
I  gave  away  all  but  one.  This  puppy  I  broke  for 
the  peculiar  purposes  necessitated  by  my  work 
with  birds.  I  took  him  away  from  his  mother 
when  he  was  five  weeks  old,  and  kept  him  with 
me  in  my  rooms,  at  the  museum,  and  in  all  my 
journeys  for  the  next  two  years.  He  was  a  red 


ioo  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

Irish  setter  of  the  old-fashioned  type,  a  dog  of  ex- 
ceptional beauty  and  great  intelligence,  whose 
appearance  was  remarked  wherever  he  went 
Moreover,  he  was  a  gentleman. 

My  first  efforts  in  training  were  the  usual 
hand-breaking  that  a  dog  receives  preliminary 
to  the  outdoor  education.  He  was  taught  to 
come  when  called,  to  lie  down,  and  to  retrieve. 
After  this  was  thoroughly  understood,  and  the 
relation  of  confidence  was  absolutely  established 
between  the  dog  and  myself,  so  that  everything 
I  asked  him  to  do  became  a  pleasure  to  him,  the 
time  approached  for  my  first  journey  to  Florida. 
The  dog  was  then  something  over  eight  months 
old ;  but,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  had  never  seen  a 
gun,  for  I  had  been  careful,  as  his  mother  had 
been  gun-shy,  to  train  him  fully  in  other  matters 
before  making  a  field  dog  of  him.  To  be  sure, 
he  walked  out  with  me,  but  these  walks  were 
limited  to  the  town,  and  generally  consisted  in 
the  daily  rounds  I  made  backward  and  forward 
to  the  museum  and  to  my  boarding  place. 

One  day,  about  a  month  before  starting  for 
Florida,  I  pulled  a  gun  case  out  from  under  my 
bed.  I  put  the  several  pieces  of  the  gun  together, 
and  without  thinking,  threw  it  to  my  shoulder. 
All  this  time  Grouse,  the  puppy,  had  been  sitting 
by,  very  much  interested  in  observing  my  move- 
ments. As  I  made  the  motion  with  the  gun,  he 


PRINCETON  101 

cowered  and  ran  under  the  bed,  betraying  all  the 
signs  of  great  fear.  So  far  as  I  know,  he  had 
never  before  seen  a  gun,  much  less  heard  one, 
and,  of  course,  there  was  no  report  and  nothing 
of  that  nature  to  frighten  him  now.  I  think  it 
may  have  been  the  quick  motion  I  made  which 
alarmed  him.  Besides,  this  dog  was  not  a  cow- 
ard. I  have  rarely  seen  one  more  fearless.  He 
thoroughly  believed  in  everything  I  did ;  that  is 
what  I  mean  by  having  established  a  relation  of 
confidence  between  us.  My  word  was  his  law, 
but  now  when  I  called  him,  for  the  first  time  he 
disobeyed  me.  I  do  not  know  whether  his  fear 
was  a  case  of  inheritance,  but  I  am  inclined  to 
think  that  heredity  had  something  to  do  with  it, 
as  I  had  been  very  careful. 

However,  I  was  thoroughly  persuaded  of  the 
good  qualities  and  the  fine  character  of  the 
animal,  and  while  I  knew  it  an  almost  hopeless 
task  to  overcome  the  fears  of  a  gun-shy  dog,  I 
determined  to  try  it.  I  now  walked  with  him  in 
the  fields,  and  he  went  with  me  to  Florida  on  the 
trip  I  have  described.  Game-birds  were  not  very 
abundant  about  Princeton,  and  I  did  not  have  the 
opportunity  to  hunt  him  at  all  that  fall,  but  when 
we  arrived  at  Panasofkee  Lake,  I  determined  on 
making  a  final  effort  to  overcome  his  fears.  For 
a  time  this  seemed  futile.  One  day,  however, 
having  him  in  the  boat  from  which  I  was  fre- 


102  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

quently  shooting,  and  wishing  to  land  on  a  certain 
grass-point  which  was  rather  low  and  swampy,  I 
told  Charlie  to  push  the  boat  in.  The  dog  was 
fastened  with  a  long  string  which  had  been  short- 
ened while  we  were  out  on  the  water  to  keep  him 
from  jumping  overboard.  As  the  boat  came  to 
the  shore  I  unfastened  the  cord  and  he  made  a 
run  to  scramble  out,  but  scarcely  had  his  feet 
touched  the  shore  when  he  came  to  a  full  stop, 
rigid  and  immovable.  Handing  the  leash  to 
Charlie  and  taking  my  gun,  I  walked  just  ahead 
of  where  the  dog  stood  motionless,  and  an  Eng- 
lish snipe  got  up  from  under  my  feet.  As  it  flew 
off  I  killed  it  when  some  ten  or  fifteen  yards  away. 
Grouse  still  pointed,  and  did  not  seem  afraid. 
I  loosened  the  string,  and  told  him  in  an  ordinary 
way  to  fetch  it.  From  that  day  on  Grouse  never 
manifested  fear  of  a  gun.  He  had  fully  appre- 
ciated the  result  that  followed  the  proper  use  of 
the  weapon. 

The  next  spring,  that  of  1876,  on  our  return  to 
Princeton,  there  was  an  elaborate  ceremony  in 
connection  with  the  Centennial,  and  on  the  lower 
part  of  the  campus,  where  Whitherspoon  Hall 
now  stands,  was  a  battery  of  some  seven  or  eight 
brass  cannon.  I  went  out  to  see  the  celebration 
and  took  Grouse.  Instead  of  fearing  the  cannon 
he  was  enthusiastic  about  them  and  the  noise 
they  made,  romping  up  and  down  in  front  of 


PRINCETON 


103 


them  in  the  smoke,  following  each  discharge  and 
barking  with  joy  and  excitement. 

During  the  time  I  was  in  Florida,  I  encouraged 
Grouse  to  become  an  aid  to  me  in  bird-collect- 
ing; and  while  he  was  more  than  an  ordinary 
good  dog  on  game-birds,  he  soon  became  very 
expert  in  retrieving  small  birds  killed  in  the 
grass.  He  also  learned  to  point  the  nests  of 
small  birds  on  the  ground  or  in  bushes,  or  even 
when  not  too  high  in  the  trees. 

Dog  stories  are  proverbial ;  but  before  leaving 
Grouse  for  the  time,  I  cannot  but  refer  to  his 
keenness  of  smell.  I  have  frequently  thrown  as 
far  as  I  could,  and  at  random  into  a  grass  field, 
a  bunch  of  keys  or  a  coin,  and  he  would  always 
find  and  retrieve  them  without  difficulty.  1  have 
done  this  when  he  was  not  with  me,  and  brought 
him  to  the  place  an  hour  afterward,  or  even  the 
next  day,  told  him  what  I  wanted  him  to  do,  and 
in  less  time  than  it  takes  to  recount  it,  he  would 
accomplish  the  end.  Grouse  was  much  esteemed 
for  his  many  fine  qualities.  His  progeny  were  in 
great  demand.  While  his  offspring  were,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  few  in  number,  all  the  owners  of 
younger  dogs  in  Princeton,  that  might  by  a  possi- 
bility be  called  red  setters,  claimed  descent  for  them 
from  this  great  dog.  This  breed  is  still  extant. 

That  Grouse  was  a  general  favorite,  the  follow- 
ing episode  reveals.  One  spring  day  we  noticed 


104  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

that  he  seemed  strangely  restless;  he  wandered 
through  the  house  and  was  unable  to  find  repose. 
Toward  night  the  nervousness  increased,  and 
when  one  of  my  neighbors  of  the  faculty  called  in 
the  evening  I  asked  him  to  look  at  Grouse  and 
advise  me  what  to  do.  The  gentleman  had  known 
Grouse  from  puppyhood,  and  was  much  attached 
to  him.  The  poor  dog  came  at  his  call,  but  could 

only  feebly  wag  his  tail  in  recognition.     Dr. 

at  once  detected  some  brain  disturbance,  and  ad- 
vised us  to  administer  bromide,  watch  Grouse 
carefully,  and  if  he  became  worse  to  confine  him 
in  a  room  alone.  All  night  the  poor  creature 
walked  up  and  down  in  distress,  save  for  the  few 
brief  periods  when  we  could  soothe  him  by  patting 
and  rubbing.  The  bromide  seemed  to  have  little 
effect.  By  morning  he  was  suffering  so  keenly 
that  we  sent  at  once  for  a  physician.  Remedies 
were  given,  but  did  not  help  him,  and  it  was 
finally  decided  that  there  was  danger  in  having 
him  any  longer  at  large. 

A  room  was  prepared.  Water  was  placed 
where  he  could  get  it,  and  even  bars  were  fixed 
on  the  windows,  the  doors  securely  fastened,  and 
here  poor  Grouse  was  imprisoned.  We  were 
overcome  with  grief,  as  his  case  seemed  hopeless. 
I  sent  the  family  to  a  hotel,  as  they  could  no 
longer  endure  the  sufferings  which  they  were 
powerless  to  relieve. 


PRINCETON  105 

Confinement  seemed  to  increase  his  agony,  and 
he  soon  began  to  dash  up  and  down  the  room 
and  to  bite  imaginary  objects.  I  started  out  in 
despair.  In  those  days  no  veterinary  surgeon  of 
repute  lived  in  the  town,  but  a  man  of  some  expe- 
rience, usually  in  his  cups,  was  supposed  to  know 
how  to  doctor  animals,  after  a  fashion.  Meeting 
the  man,  I  appealed  to  him  in  my  desperation, 
and  asked  him  to  go  with  me,  at  the  same  time 
securing  Charlie  Hubbard,  who  had  nursed  Grouse 
through  his  childish  ailments,  as  an  assistant. 
Charlie  put  on  a  heavy  glove,  reached  through 
the  door,  grasped  the  frantic  dog  by  the  collar, 
and  slipped  a  muzzle  over  his  head.  It  seemed  a 
most  dangerous  undertaking,  for  Grouse  by  this 
time  had  all  the  symptoms  generally  ascribed  to 
a  mad  dog.  The  veterinary,  however,  was  fear- 
less, and  the  moment  I  spoke  to  Grouse  he  became 
more  quiet.  Heroic  measures  were  resorted  to ;  he 
was  blistered  and  poulticed,  opiates  were  admin- 
istered, the  extreme  suffering  was  relieved,  and 
he  soon  became  unconscious. 

But  this  was  not  the  end.  For  a  week  Grouse 
lay  at  the  point  of  death.  The  physician  visited 
him  twice  each  day,  for  brain  fever  and  inflam- 
mation of  the  bowels  had  developed.  The  family 
returned.  We  relieved  each  other  in  his  care, 
while  Charlie  was  installed  as  head  nurse.  Then 
the  college  boys  heard  of  Grouse's  illness,  and 


io6  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

volunteered  their  aid,  for  Charlie  could  not  be 
trusted  to  administer  the  brandy  and  beef  tea 
at  regular  intervals,  and  we  were  all  worn  out. 
During  two  weeks,  relays  of  college  students 
watched  with  him  at  night.  One  day  he  became 
conscious,  and  recognized  me  by  licking  my  hand 
as  I  patted  him.  But  his  past  was  a  blank ;  he 
had  to  begin  life  as  a  puppy  once  more,  and  again 
be  taught  all  his  former  accomplishments.  This 
second  education  was,  however,  acquired  with 
ease. 

To  show  the  extent  of  his  popularity,  I  was  con- 
stantly stopped  in  the  street  by  many  friends  who 
asked  with  much  concern,  "How  is  Grouse  to- 
day ?  I  am  so  sorry  to  hear  of  his  illness."  And 
our  own  physician,  who  did  not  like  dogs,  and 
for  whom  I  had  not  ventured  to  send,  took  me  to 
task  for  not  calling  him  when  Grouse  was  ill. 

I  tell  this  episode  to  show  not  only  the  love 
that  a  faithful  dog  inspires,  but  to  make  it  plain 
also  that  a  dog  in  illness  should  receive  the  same 
intelligent  care  that  is  accorded  a  human  being. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE    PLAINS    AND    COLORADO 

THE  opening  of  the  college  in  September  neces- 
sitated our  return  to  Princeton  early  in  the  month, 
though  I  was  loath  to  leave  Barnegat,  and  to 
forego  further  continuous  observation  here,  for  it 
presented  much  both  of  a  novel  and  interesting 
character. 

Few  people  realize  the  wealth  revealed  to  the 
careful  and  observant  collector  in  any  field  of 
nature.  At  this  time  comparatively  little  was 
known  about  the  exact  details  of  the  migrations 
of  some  of  the  commoner  shore  birds,  and  there 
are  questions  still  to  be  solved.  For  instance,  as 
to  the  presence  of  such  birds  as  the  dowitcher, 
the  knot,  and  the  turnstone  on  the  coast  of 
Florida,  and  in  intervening  regions  from  there 
northward  to  New  Jersey  during  the  months  of 
June  and  July.  The  two  former  birds,  at  least, 
breed  very  far  north,  and  yet  are  represented  by 
an  appreciable  element  of  individuals  even  as  far 
south  as  southern  Florida  in  midsummer.  But 
the  point  to  which  I  wish  to  call  attention  is 

the  short  space  of  time  spent  by  the  dowitcher 

107 


io8  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

and  the  knot  at  their  summer  breeding  ground 
in  the  far  North.  The  last  dowitchers  observed 
passing  northward  along  the  Jersey  coast  were 
late  in  May,  and  the  first  arrivals  returning  from 
the  North  made  their  advent  on  July  6,  when  a 
pair  were  seen.  The  next  day  several  small  flocks 
appeared  passing  South.  Thus,  in  a  period  of 
less  than  sixty  days  these  birds  journeyed  pre- 
sumably over  thousands  of  miles,  and  returned 
by  the  same  route.  In  addition,  it  is  also  prob- 
able that  they  had  laid  eggs,  spent  a  very  con- 
siderable number  of  days  incubating  the  same, 
and  finally  had  reared  broods  of  young  ones 
which  came  South,  almost  simultaneously  with 
their  elders  to  the  Jersey  coast,  full-grown  birds. 
It  is  therefore  evident  that  the  work  and  study 
of  Barnegat  was  abandoned  only  because  of  the 
greater  exigency  of  other  demands,  and  not  from 
lack  of  material  or  interest. 

My  work  at  Princeton  during  this  and  the  suc- 
ceeding seasons  dealt  largely  with  the  winter  bird 
fauna  of  the  immediate  vicinity ;  and  some  of  the 
observations  made  in  connection  with  this  work, 
especially  that  of  the  winter  of  1878  and  1879,  are 
recorded  in  a  paper  cited  in  the  appendix. 

Notable  was  the  advent  in  the  vicinity  of 
Princeton  during  this  winter  of  great  numbers 
of  a  kind  of  small  owl  known  as  the  saw- whet, 
which  became  very  plentiful  in  certain  cedar 


THE   PLAINS   AND   COLORADO  109 

groves  not  distant  from  the  town  in  the  early 
part  of  December.  I  visited  several  of  these 
groves,  and  cite  from  my  notes  as  follows :  — 

"Until  last  fall  I  had  never  met  with  the  saw-whet  owl 
{Nyctala  acadica)  at  this  point,  and  was  surprised  at  having 
one  brought  me  on  December  i.  This  bird  was  taken  from 
a  hole  in  a  tree  alive.  Just  after  a  severe  storm,  in  the  early 
part  of  December,  I  was  told  of  some  small  owls  being  quite 
common  in  a  certain  cedar  grove.  In  this  and  in  an  adjacent 
grove  on  December  10,  I  obtained  ten  saw- whet  owls,  and  the 
following  day  seven  more.  Since  that  time  until  writing  I  have 
found  these  birds  more  or  less  common  in  cedar  groves,  and 
have  obtained  many  more  specimens.  During  the  day  they 
roost  in  cedars  close  to  the  trunk,  and  can  frequently  be  taken 
alive  in  the  hand.  They  seem  to  affect  scattered  groves,  where 
the  trees  do  not  grow  too  thickly.  Most  of  the  birds  taken  are 
females,  and  judging  from  their  ovaries,  the  time  of  breeding 
cannot  be  more  than  six  weeks  or  two  months  distant." 

I  speak  particularly  of  this  occurrence  as  I 
have  never  noticed  the  birds  in  subsequent  years, 
except  casually  and  singly.  There  was  also  a 
very  remarkable  migration  of  red-tailed  and  red- 
shouldered  hawks,  as  well  as  numbers  of  rough- 
legged  buzzards.  On  some  of  the  meadows  along 
the  Millstone  River  during  this  winter  almost 
every  isolated  tree  was  the  haunt  of  one  of  these 
large  hawks,  and  it  was  not  unusual  to  see  two 
or  three  of  them  in  the  same  tree.  I  remember 
once  collecting  five  individuals  within  close 
gunshot  of  one  another.  I  did  not  pick  up  any 


no  THE   STORY  OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

of  the  dead  birds  as  they  fell  from  the  trees  until 
I  had  killed  the  last  one.  Being  anxious  to  have 
a  good  series  of  this  kind  of  bird  of  prey  in  the 
museum  study-collections,  I  offered  a  small  price 
for  large  hawks,  thinking  to  obtain  a  few  speci- 
mens in  addition  to  those  I  could  collect  myself. 
One  day,  shortly  after  Thanksgiving,  a  man  drove 
up  to  my  house  having  in  his  wagon  a  large, 
roughly  built,  slatted  crate.  He  told  me  he  knew 
of  my  desire  to  get  hawks,  having  heard  it  from 
a  neighbor,  and  that  he  had  collected  some  during 
the  past  few  days  and  had  them  ready  for  delivery. 
Examining  more  closely  I  found  there  were  in  his 
crate  twenty-two  red-shouldered  and  red-tailed 
hawks  alive  and  uninjured,  and  so  recently  cap- 
tured that  they  had  not  had  time  to  wear  or  dirty 
their  plumage.  These  birds  had  all  been  taken 
in  an  ordinary  steel  muskrat  trap  placed  on  top 
of  a  long  pole,  which  for  this  purpose  had  been 
driven  into  the  ground  of  some  meadow  which 
the  hawks  frequented.  The  jaws  of  the  steel 
trap,  being  bound  with  cotton  wadding  or  other 
soft  material,  did  not  injure  or  break  the  hawks' 
legs  or  lame  the  birds  in  any  way.  This  will 
give  an  idea  of  the  abundance  of  these  large 
hawks  at  this  time. 

I  cannot  dwell  on  the  details  of  my  field-work 
during  these  two  winters,  and  can  only  call  atten- 
tion in  general  to  the  great  numbers  of  the  birds 


THE   PLAINS  AND   COLORADO  in 

of  prey  that  fed  on  field-mice  and  the  smaller 
mammals  at  this  period  during  the  winter  season 
in  New  Jersey.  This  presents  a  strong  contrast  to 
the  condition  of  affairs  that  now  exist  Such  a 
result,  the  great  decrease  in  the  large  mouse- 
hawks,  has  accrued  almost  entirely  through  the 
systematic  persecution  to  which  they  have  been 
subjected.  They  are  formidable  looking  crea- 
tures, and  coming  in  the  classification  of  the 
farmer  under  the  head  of  "  hen  hawks,"  they  have 
been  treated  without  mercy. 

It  is  true  that  both  the  red-shouldered  and  red- 
tailed  hawk  make  occasional  raids  on  poultry, 
but  these  are  rare  events.  Their  food  consists 
almost  entirely  of  field-mice  and  the  smaller  mam- 
mals which  levy  a  heavy  toll  on  every  stack  of 
grain  and  every  granary,  much  more  than  would 
compensate  for  the  few  fowls  that  the  hawks  kill. 
Therefore,  the  farmer  in  destroying  indiscrimi- 
nately the  larger  hawks  unwittingly  aids  in  the 
increase  of  enemies  that,  from  an  economic  point 
of  view  alone,  do  him  much  more  damage. 

It  is  the  slim,  long-tailed,  short,  round-winged 
hawks  of  the  genus  Accipiter  that  habitually 
prey  on  smaller  birds,  poultry,  and  game.  They 
are  not  nearly  so  formidable  in  size,  and  are  not 
conspicuous  when  perching. 

During  the  summer  of  1877  a  party  of  profes- 
sors and  students  from  the  university  had  made 


H2  THE   STORY  OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

an  expedition  for  purposes  connected  with  geo- 
logical and  paleontological  research  to  the  Bad 
Lands  of  Wyoming,  and  had  spent  some  little 
time  in  Colorado.  They  were  so  enthusiastic  on 
their  return  as  to  the  wealth  of  animal  life  in  the 
country,  dwelling  particularly  on  a  region  high  in 
the  mountain  chain  near  the  headwaters  of  the 
Arkansas  River,  that  I  planned,  if  possible,  to 
spend  the  summer  vacation  of  the  year  1878 
in  Colorado.  I  would  have  started  early  in  the 
season  but  that,  in  addition  to  my  duties  as  cura- 
tor of  the  museum,  I  was  called  on  this  year  to 
give  a  course  of  lectures,  supplemented  by  lab- 
oratory work  to  the  senior  class.  These  lectures 
dealt  with  the  comparative  anatomy  of  vertebrate 
animals,  and  were  given  during  the  second  term 
of  the  senior  year.  Such  a  course  continued  to 
be  part  of  my  duties  for  the  next  few  years. 

Among  the  students  of  the  first  class  of  this 
kind  which  worked  with  me  I  must  mention  two 
men,  both  of  whom  have  become  notable  natural- 
ists :  William  B.  Scott,  now  and  for  many  years 
Professor  of  Geology  and  Paleontology  in  Prince- 
ton University,  and  Henry  Fairfield  Osborn, 
Professor  in  Columbia  University,  Curator  in  the 
American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  and 
United  States  Paleontologist.  After  their  study 
with  me  in  their  senior  year  both  of  these  gentle- 
men took  part  in  the  expedition  to  Colorado,  and 


THE   PLAINS  AND   COLORADO  113 

it  was  largely  due  to  their  accounts  of  the  trip  that 
I  determined  to  go  there  in  1878. 

Through  the  liberality  of  a  number  of  trustees 
and  friends  of  the  college  a  fund  was  provided 
which  enabled  me  to  undertake  the  proposed 
expedition.  On  this  journey,  as  on  many  subse- 
quent ones,  I  was  accompanied  by  Mrs.  Scott,  and 
we  shared  together  the  pleasure  of  visiting  an 
unfamiliar  country. 

Railroad  travel  was  much  slower  in  those  days, 
so  we  had  a  very  fair  look  at  the  plains  crossing 
Kansas  and  eastern  Colorado.  This  region  from 
central  Kansas  west  was  at  the  time  a  great  un- 
broken plain,  and  had  not  yet  been  invaded  by 
the  vast  cattle  ranches  and  sheep  runs  which  have 
since  made  it  famous,  and  which  in  turn  have 
given  place  to  practical  agriculture. 

Few  travellers  realize  in  crossing  the  United 
States  the  steady  ascent  coincident  with  the 
journey  from  the  Missouri  River  to  the  eastern 
edge  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  say  at  Denver. 
It  seems  as  if  one  were  travelling  over  a  vast  flat 
plain,  which  is  only  here  and  there  broken  by 
undulations  of  so  inappreciable  a  character  as  to 
•  be  included  in  the  whole,  and  yet  the  rise  in  this 
five  hundred  miles  is  very  considerable ;  for  when 
the  city  of  Denver  is  reached  the  traveller  is  already 
at  an  altitude  of  some  five  thousand  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  sea.  Beyond  towers  the  great  wall, 


H4  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

the  backbone  of  the  continent  —  the  Rocky 
Mountains. 

Approached  from  the  plain,  at  first  such  eleva- 
tions as  the  summit  of  Pike's  Peak  are  dis- 
cernible on  the  horizon,  appearing  like  miniature 
white  tents,  and  later  as  marble  domes  surrounded 
by  pinnacles  and  buttresses  of  alabaster.  Shortly 
the  region  of  the  mountains  below  the  snow-line 
appears,  and  ultimately  the  panorama  of  giant 
hills  stretches  from  north  to  south  as  far  as  the 
eye  can  reach. 

On  the  whole,  like  all  great  spectacles  which 
have  excited  the  imagination,  the  reality  is  at 
first  sight  disappointing,  and  the  fact  of  attain- 
ing an  elevation  of  five  thousand  feet  before  a  view 
of  the  mountains  is  complete  accounts  for  this. 
But  with  every  later  hour  spent  in  contempla- 
tion the  marvel  grows.  The  early  impression  is 
evanescent ;  and  each  day,  with  its  new  visions  of 
color  and  form  revealed  in  these  mighty  hills,  adds 
to  the  sense  of  their  majesty. 

However,  having  viewed  from  the  sea  some  of 
the  mountains  in  the  islands  of  the  tropics,  notably 
the  Blue  Mountain  range  of  Jamaica,  whose  cen- 
tral peak  towers  eight  thousand  feet  abruptly 
above  the  level  of  the  ocean,  such  a  mountain 
chain  more  fully  realized  my  ideas  of  grandeur 
than  did  the  mighty  chain  of  the  Rockies,  whose 
loftiest  peaks  are  nearly  twice  as  high. 


THE  PLAINS  AND   COLORADO  115 

Arriving  at  Denver  we  spent  a  few  days  mak- 
ing preparations  for  the  drive  into  the  mountains. 
Our  destination  was  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  to  the  southwest,  high  up  in  the  main 
chain  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  then  only  to  be 
reached  by  stage  or  private  conveyance. 

Fourteen  miles  from  the  town  of  Leadville, 
at  an  elevation  of  nine  thousand  two  hundred 
feet  above  the  sea,  surrounded  by  mountains, 
some  of  which  attain  an  altitude  of  nearly  four- 
teen thousand  feet,  are  two  small  bodies  of 
water,  from  their  proximity  to  each  other  known 
as  Twin  Lakes.  The  smaller  of  these  is  a  mile 
long,  oval  in  shape,  the  larger  one  perhaps  ex- 
ceeding it  three  times  in  size.  Here  an  early 
settler,  by  name  Deny,  had  a  hay  ranch  and 
summer  grazing  ground.  A  rude  house  of 
entertainment  for  hunters  and  fishermen  was  also 
maintained  by  this  hospitable  pioneer.  There 
was  no  other  habitation  for  miles;  mountain 
peaks  towered  above  it  on  every  hand,  framing 
an  upland  valley  containing  the  Twin  Lakes. 

A  word  as  to  the  house  which  the  Derrys  had 
built.  It  was  a  wooden  structure,  of  course,  but 
displayed  in  its  construction  not  only  the  fertility 
of  resource  that  is  one  of  the  attributes  of  the 
pioneer,  but  much  of  Yankee  ingenuity.  It  was 
roofed  entirely  with  tin,  not  in  the  conventional 
way,  each  separate  plate  having  once  been  an  in- 


n6  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

tegral  part  of  a  tin  can,  that  indispensable  adjunct 
of  civilization  and  index  of  its  advance.  No 
single  object  more  clearly  indicates  the  invasion 
of  a  new  country  than  the  countless  empty  and 
abandoned  tin  cans  scattered  everywhere.  But 
the  Derrys  did  not  surrender  them  as  useless 
when  empty;  all  were  subjected  to  fire,  and  the 
part  of  each  that  had  once  been  the  cylinder  now 
was  a  flat  piece  of  tin  again,  firmly  soldered  to  its 
neighbors  of  like  origin,  the  whole  forming  an 
admirable  water-tight  roof.  As  this  was  no  small 
house,  the  patience  and  labor  involved  in  making 
such  a  covering  can  readily  be  imagined. 

Four  or  five  days  were  spent  in  Denver  in  find- 
ing a  man  who,  besides  having  the  necessary 
conveyance,  also  had  such  knowledge  of  the 
country  as  would  enable  him  to  pilot  us  to  our 
journey's  end.  Finally  such  service  was  secured, 
and  early  one  morning  we  began  our  slow  jour- 
ney in  a  traditional  "  prairie  schooner  "  over  what 
was  then  an  almost  virgin  country. 

I  can  but  briefly  indicate  the  many  beauties 
which  nature  spread  prodigally  before  us  on  every 
side.  All  along  the  way  I  recognized  the  birds 
that  crossed  the  road  in  front  of  us  or  that  alighted 
in  the  trees  in  the  vicinity.  They  were  the  same 
that  Mr.  Allen  had  brought  back  from  this  region, 
and  each  one  recalled  my  work  in  Cambridge. 
As  I  saw  them  now  alive  for  the  first  time  none 


THE   PLAINS  AND  COLORADO  117 

of  them  were  strangers ;  no  introduction  was  nec- 
essary, except  as  to  song  and  action. 

My  previous  journeys,  even  the  one  that  had 
taken  me  to  eastern  Kansas,  and  also  the  winter 
spent  at  Panasofkee  Lake,  had  not  brought  me 
into  relation  with  a  new  set  of  conditions  in  bird 
life ;  I  mean  by  this  a  different  fauna,  especially 
of  small  birds.  There  were  a  few  new  ones  in 
eastern  Kansas,  but  the  general  character  of 
bird  life  at  both  that  point  and  at  Warrensburg, 
Missouri,  was  similar  to  that  of  the  East.  In 
Florida,  taking  out  half  a  dozen  large  and  con- 
spicuous kinds,  such  as  the  herons,  ibises,  and 
wild  turkeys,  and  among  the  small  birds,  the 
paroquets,  there  was  little  in  the  general  aspect  of 
the  fauna  very  different  from  that  of  Princeton. 
Now  I  was  passing  through  a  country  where 
another  set  of  conditions  predominated.  The 
birds  of  eastern  North  America  were  few ;  stran- 
gers presented  themselves  on  every  hand. 

Here  was  a  bluebird  of  the  finest  azure  both  on 
his  back  and  breast  taking  the  place  of  our  red- 
breasted  bluebird  of  the  East.  Now  and  then  the 
song  of  the  mountain  mocking-bird  greeted  the  ear. 
In  some  of  the  streams  we  passed  I  saw  for  the  first 
time  the  water-ouzel  swimming,  diving,  and  living 
its  aquatic  life.  Yellow-headed  blackbirds  and 
Brewer's  blackbirds  were  the  representatives  of 
that  family;  while  Bullock's  oriole  replaced  the 


xi  8-  THE  STORY  OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

familiar  Baltimore  oriole  of  the  East.  Ravens 
were  by  no  means  uncommon,  and  magpies,  con- 
spicuous in  every  landscape  where  they  occur, 
were  frequently  to  be  seen.  Besides  this,  the 
highest  altitude  attained  gave  us  a  climate  equiva- 
lent to  that  of  Labrador  in  the  summer ;  and  such 
birds  among  the  aquatic  species  as  Wilson's 
snipe  and  the  golden-eyed  duck  were  both  found 
and  believed  to  breed  at  Twin  Lakes.  Great 
numbers  of  red  cross-bills  and  Canada  jays  also 
indicated  a  bird  fauna  approximating  that  which 
is  called  the  Hudsonian.  The  broad-tailed  hum- 
ming-bird, a  larger  and  more  conspicuous  form 
than  our  rubythroat,  was  the  only  humming-bird 
observed,  and  was  very  abundant.  All  this  to 
show  how  different  and  novel  was  the  ensemble 
of  bird  life. 

Throughout  this  drive  the  way  was  bedecked 
with  flowers,  and  curiously  we  witnessed,  not  the 
phenomenon  of  spring  turning  into  summer,  which 
every  one  has  enjoyed, but  of  summer  really  turning 
into  spring,  and  spring  again  into  summer,  and 
summer  again  into  spring.  This  paradox  becomes 
clear  when  one  realizes  that  in  traversing  this 
route  from  Denver  to  Twin  Lakes,  the  way  leads 
uphill  and  down,  across  considerable  elevations, 
and  culminates  in  the  passage  of  the  main  chain 
of  the  mountains  at  a  point  a  little  over  thirteen 
thousand  feet  above  the  sea. 


THE   PLAINS  AND   COLORADO  119 

When  we  left  Denver  on  June  12,  it  was  sum- 
mer. The  trees  were  in  full  leaf,  and  many  of 
the  early  flowers  of  spring  were  faded  and  gone, 
their  places  taken  by  the  later  comers  that 
decorated  the  summer  landscape  of  the  region. 
Beginning  to  ascend  the  mountains  as  the  first 
foot-hills  were  attained,  it  was  perceptible  that 
each  hundred  feet  of  elevation  had  put  the  clock 
of  nature  backward.  As  the  route  passed  over 
some  considerable  altitude,  at  first  the  leaves  on 
the  trees  were  only  half  developed ;  higher  up  they 
were  just  breaking  the  buds,  and  later,  as  the 
highest  point  was  reached,  only  the  haze  that  in- 
dicates the  renewal  of  leaf  and  flower  on  the  trees 
was  visible.  Along  with  this  backward  turning 
of  the  season  one  saw  all  the  early  spring  flowers 
in  various  stages  of  growth  inversely  from  the 
flowers  to  the  bud  about  to  blossom.  There  are 
other  phenomena  connected  with  life  and  growth, 
one  of  which  I  can  suggest  by  a  concrete  example. 
There  was  a  kind  of  sunflower  blooming  on  all  the 
foot-hills,  and  ordinarily  the  stock  which  carried 
the  golden  disk,  some  five  inches  across,  was  any- 
where from  four  to  five  feet  high.  Gradually 
with  the  ascent  of  the  backbone  of  the  chain,  the 
height  of  the  stalks  of  the  sunflowers  was  in  in- 
verse ratio  to  the  altitude  of  the  hills.  That  is, 
while  the  flower  was  five  inches  across  in  the 
lower  regions,  and  on  a  stalk  some  four  or  five 


120  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

feet  high,  before  the  snow-line  was  reached,  at  an 
altitude  of  perhaps  twelve  thousand  feet,  the  stalk 
had  dwindled  to  a  sturdy  stem,  often  not  more 
than  four  or  five  inches  tall,  which  bore  a  sun- 
flower in  size  and  color  quite  equal  to  that  seen 
on  the  tallest  and  sturdiest  stalks  below.  The 
very  short  summer  here  did  not  admit  of  time  to 
grow  a  longer  stalk.  The  flower  must  be  pro- 
duced as  soon  as  possible  to  allow  the  seed  that 
would  insure  the  perpetuation  of  the  species  to 
develop  and  ripen. 

I  cannot  dwell  on  the  many  kinds  of  flowers, 
but  to  indicate  their  abundance  as  a  whole  seems 
essential.  The  ground  was  fairly  carpeted,  and 
up  to  within  a  few  feet  of  the  banks  of  snow  at 
high  altitudes  their  numbers  did  not  diminish. 

In  the  vicinity  of  Denver  my  attention  was  par- 
ticularly attracted  by  a  colony  of  burrowing  owls. 
These  creatures  frequented,  not  only  the  deserted 
burrows  of  prairie-dogs,  but  also  the  abandoned 
domiciles  of  other  animals,  such  as  the  badger  and 
the  red  fox.  Just  to  the  east  of  the  city,  some  four 
miles,  was  a  very  considerable  prairie-dog  town 
which  probably  covered  a  hundred  acres,  and  there 
may  have  been  one  or  more  pair  of  the  little 
rodents  to  each  acre  of  ground.  There  were  also 
many  seemingly  abandoned  burrows.  The  whole 
colony  of  owls  in  this  town  did  not  exceed  twenty 
pairs,  scattered  over  the  area. 


THE   PLAINS  AND   COLORADO  121 

They  are  droll  little  birds  standing  on  the 
summit  of  the  earth  heaped  at  the  mouth  of  a 
burrow.  As  you  approach  they  begin  to  nod  and 
gesticulate  with  their  heads,  bowing  and  seemingly 
much  interested  in  the  visit.  This  series  of  genu- 
flexions is  continued  until  a  close  approach  is 
made,  when  the  bird  flies  away  with  a  rather  slow, 
silent,  flapping  sort  of  flight,  or  more  often  disap- 
pears into  the  burrow  beside  the  mound,  like  a 
jack-in-the-box.  This  habit  of  disappearance  not 
only  interested  the  human  element  in  our  party, 
but  my  setter  Grouse,  who  accompanied  us  to 
Colorado,  was  equally  impressed.  He  could  not 
get  used  to  it.  That  a  bird  standing  on  the 
ground  should,  in  an  instant,  instead  of  taking 
flight,  vanish  into  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  was  too 
much !  He  protested  loudly  whenever  he  wit- 
nessed the  phenomenon. 

A  drive  from  Denver  to  this  prairie-dog  town 
served  to  introduce  two  other  birds  characteristic 
of  the  region.  The  mountain-plover,  a  species 
with  something  about  it  suggestive  of  the  kill- 
deer,  but  larger  and  of  the  build  of  the  lapwing 
of  Europe ;  and  the  prairie  falcon  recalling  the 
peregrine,  and  in  size  about  halfway  between  that 
bird  and  his  miniature  relative,  the  pigeon  hawk. 

"Just  in  the  town  itself  are  very  many  birds,  doubtless 
attracted  by  the  trees  planted  so  liberally  along  the  streets, 
and  by  the  little  streams  of  water  that  run  along  in  what  we 


122  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

would  call  gutters  in  the  East,  but  which  here  serve  to  keep 
alive  and  green  the  trees  and  grass  that  the  dry  soil  and  cli- 
mate would  soon  kill  were  they  left  to  nature's  protection. 

"  Some  of  our  readers  will  perhaps  be  glad  to  know  that  there 
is  a  large  city  in  this  country  where  the  familiar  sparrows  are 
hot  known,  and  where  their  place  is  supplied  by  natural  inhabit- 
ants, who,  if  not  so  abundant  or  conspicuous,  seem  to  be  able 
to  keep  the  insect  pests  at  bay ;  for  rarely  have  we  seen  more 
flourishing  and  thrifty  trees,  apparently  free  from  all  kinds  of 
cutworms  and  the  like  that  trouble  us  so  much  about  our 
homes  in  the  East.  A  week  ago,  in  Chicago,  we  found  the 
sparrows  abundant,  and  their  familiar  chip,  chip,  chap,  chap, 
brought  New  York  streets  vividly  to  our  minds;  and  pass- 
ing through  Kansas  City  the  day  after,  in  only  a  twenty 
minutes'  stop,  we  detected,  we  thought,  the  same  little  fellows 
that  throng  our  Eastern  cities.  But  here,  in  Denver,  we  have 
not  seen  or  heard  an  English  sparrow,  and  as  every  now  and 
then  a  bright  oriole  or  gay  flycatcher  flashes  by,  with  a  strain  of 
most  beautiful  song,  or  the  weak,  harsh  notes  that  characterize 
the  latter  bird,  we  congratulate  the  citizens  that  their  town 
birds  are  much  more  interesting  and  varied  than  ours  at  home. 
This  morning,  walking  up  one  of  the  main  streets,  the  familiar 
song  of  the  robin  was  heard,  and  looking  about  we  saw  a  superb 
male  bird,  apparently  of  very  dark  coloring,  sitting  on  the 
chimney-top  of  one  of  the  low  houses  that  are  a  feature  of  the 
city.  The  song  seemed  to  us  richer  and  fuller  than  at  home, 
and  by  far  more  musical,  though  we  would  not  for  a  moment 
disparage  that  of  the  Eastern  representative  of  the  bird  in  ques- 
tion. Maybe,  after  hearing  such  a  number  of  strange,  and  to 
us  new  songs  for  the  past  few  days,  this  one,  from  its  very  fa- 
miliarity, sounded  doubly  sweet.  The  robins  do  not  seem  at  all 
common,  and,  as  we  said  before,  this  is  the  only  one  we  have 
heard  singing  about  here,  though  we  have  seen  a  number  of 
others.  There  is  hardly  a  bird  that  one  misses  more  than 
this,  and  we  should  be  careful  in  protecting  them  about  our 


THE   PLAINS  AND   COLORADO  123 

homes."—  The  Country,  Vol.  2,  No.  8,  June  15,  1878.     From 
contributed  article  by  William  E.  D.  Scott. 

An  incident  of  my  collecting  at  Twin  Lakes 
was  the  discovery  of  the  first  known  nest  of  the 
ruby-crowned  kinglet.  Until  now  the  method 
of  breeding  of  this  bird  had  been  more  or  less 
a  matter  of  conjecture,  and  the  eggs  had  not 
been  seen.  From  the  paper  cited  in  the  appen- 
dix, I  quote  the  following  notes  with  regard  to 
this  little  kinglet,  and  a  description  of  the  nest 
made  at  the  time. 

"  One  of  the  most  common  song-birds,  and  heard  every- 
where. On  the  2oth  of  June  I  saw  a  female  fly  to  a  pine  tree 
with  material  in  her  bill  for  building  a  nest.  On  looking  I 
found  a  nest  nearly  finished.  On  the  25th  of  June  I  took  this 
nest  with  five  fresh  eggs,  and  the  female  showed  signs  of  hav- 
ing incubated.  I  think  no  more  eggs  would  have  been  laid. 
The  nest  is  before  me  as  I  write,  and  presents  the  following 
peculiarities :  It  is  semipensile,  being  suspended  to  the  leaves 
of  the  pine,  and  to  one  small  branch,  much  like  the  red-eyed 
vireo's  nest.  It  is  very  large  in  proportion  to  the  builder,  and 
is  made  of  the  bark  of  sage-brush  and  of  green  moss  very  firmly 
twisted  together,  and  forming  a  soft  outer  wall  of  from  half  to 
a  full  inch  in  thickness.  This  is  lined  with  feathers  and  hair. 
The  whole  nest  is  very  soft,  and  has  the  following  dimensions  : 
Four  inches  deep  outside,  three  inches  deep  inside,  three  inches 
in  diameter  outside,  and  two  inches  at  the  top  inside,  but  nar- 
rowing to  an  inch  and  a  half  at  the  bottom.  On  the  outside 
it  is  as  wide  at  the  bottom  as  at  the  top,  being  in  this  respect 
like  a  Baltimore  oriole's.  It  was  placed  at  the  very  outermost 
twigs  and  leaves  of  the  tree,  about  twelve  feet  from  the  ground. 
The  eggs  are  five  in  number,  of  a  dirty  white  color,  faintly 


124  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

spotted  all  over  with  light  brown,  which  becomes  quite  definite 
at  the  larger  end.  They  are  large  in  proportion  to  the  size  of 
the  bird,  and  one  end  is  very  little  sharper  than  the  other.  The 
following  are  the  dimensions:  .55  x  .45,  -55  X  .44,  .54  x  .42, 
•57X.45,  -58X.43-" 

During  our  stay  at  Twin  Lakes  we  went  a 
number  of  times  to  Leadville,  some  fourteen 
miles  away.  A  successful  mining  camp  in  em- 
bryo, situated  in  what  had  once  been  a  famous 
gold  placer,  California  Gulch,  it  presented  a  novel 
and  remarkable  spectacle.  A  camp,  in  the  remote 
fastnesses  of  the  mountains,  with  a  few  hundred 
inhabitants,  grew,  from  the  time  of  the  melting 
of  the  snow  in  spring,  to  a  city  of  fifteen  thousand 
people  ere,  with  the  early  fall,  the  first  white  flakes 
appeared  betokening  the  coming  winter.  It  was 
a  city  of  canvas  and  wood,  largely  canvas.  A 
mighty  stream  of  adventurers  of  all  kinds  was 
flowing  in  daily.  Miners  and  capitalists,  gamblers 
and  courtesans,  preachers  and  actors,  swelled  the 
throng.  With  the  virgin  pine  forests,  at  the  edge 
of  its  streets  and  squares,  fourteen  steam  sawmills 
were  unable  to  supply  the  demand  for  lumber  for 
building,  and  tents  were  conspicuous  for  the  en- 
tire first  year  of  this  city's  life. 

Beside  other  woodpeckers,  notably  the  red- 
shafted  flicker  and  the  type  of  yellow-bellied 
woodpecker  prevalent  in  the  West,  the  brown- 
headed  woodpecker  was  common  and  bred  at 


THE   PLAINS  AND   COLORADO  125 

Twin  Lakes.  The  genus  to  which  the  yellow- 
bellied  and  brown-headed  woodpeckers  belong  is 
known  as  Sphyrapicus.  As  an  illustration  of  the 
artificiality  of  conventional  systematic  classifica- 
tion, it  is  worthy  of  record  that  almost  until  the 
time  of  which  I  am  speaking  the  male  and  female 
of  the  brown-headed  woodpecker  not  only  had 
been  described  as  separate  species,  —  one  known 
as  the  brown-headed  woodpecker  and  the  other 
as  Williamson's  woodpecker,  —  but  the  female, 
which  presented  a  somewhat  different  character 
and  coloring  from  the  other  members  of  the  genus 
Sphyrapicus,  had  been  placed  in  a  genus  by  her- 
self. This  is  not  the  only  instance  where  sexual 
difference  of  little-known  birds  has  caused  sys- 
tematists  to  describe  the  two  sexes  as  different 
species. 

During  our  stay  at  Twin  Lakes  in  the  month 
of  July  there  occurred  a  total  eclipse  of  the  sun. 
This  began,  as  nearly  as  I  can  remember,  about 
two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  about  the  height  of 
day  at  that  time  of  year. 

Gradually  darkness  overspread  the  face  of  land 
and  water.  The  birds  abandoned  the  pursuit  of 
their  habitual  occupations,  and  the  preliminary 
song  period  that  heralds  the  night  commenced. 
As  the  eclipse  proceeded,  each  feathered  creature 
retired  to  some  accustomed  sleeping  place,  and 
went  through  all  the  motions  and  excitement  that 


126  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

occur  with  most  song-birds  just  before  darkness 
descends.  The  period  of  absolute  obscurity  of 
the  eclipse  was,  of  course,  short.  At  this  point 
not  only  the  birds,  but  all  nature  seemed  sleep- 
ing. With  the  beginning  of  dawn,  from  one  point 
and  another  could  be  heard  the  cries  and  first 
calls  preliminary  to  the  opening  chorus  of  song 
with  which  birds  greet  the  day.  The  beauty  of 
light,  shade,  and  color  which  accompanied  the 
procession  of  events  throughout  the  duration  of  the 
eclipse  were  impressive,  wonderful,  magnificent. 
The  picture  of  a  single  line  of  incidents,  such  as 
I  have  portrayed  through  the  medium  of  birds, 
indicates  but  a  little  of  the  greatness  of  the  event 
viewed  as  a  whole. 

For  those  who  are  not  so  fortunate  as  to  wit- 
ness the  song  phenomenon  which  I  have  de- 
scribed as  accompanying  the  obscuration  of  the 
sun,  I  suggest  that  every  June  day  furnishes  at 
its  beginning  and  close  a  parallel.  He  who 
would  enjoy  the  opening  should  be  out  of 
doors  at,  say,  half-past  two  in  the  morning,  and 
sit  for  the  next  twenty  minutes  in  the  unbroken 
stillness  and  dark  of  the  time.  It  will  be  difficult 
to  say  when  the  day  begins,  where  the  blackness 
ends  and  fades  into  the  first  gray  which  betokens 
the  dawn ;  but  coincident  with  it  a  low  cry  from 
some  thicket  or  tree  hard  by  will  announce  a  per- 
ception more  acute.  Presently  answering  calls 


THE   PLAINS  AND   COLORADO  127 

come  from  every  direction,  mingling  and  swell- 
ing, until  perhaps  the  song  of  a  robin  bursts  in 
its  full  melody  upon  the  hearer.  Gradually  all 
the  minstrels  join,  until,  as  the  first  streak  of 
gold  illumines  the  horizon,  it  is  possible  to  real- 
ize something  of  the  multitude  of  throats  which 
unite  in  the  chorus. 

Such  a  symphony  attains  its  greatest  volume 
about  the  time  the  sun  is  an  hour  high,  and  from 
then  until  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  gradually 
and  imperceptibly  dies  again  until  one  begins 
to  notice  single  and  individualized  songsters. 
Finally  the  hush  that  heralds  the  interval  of 
noon,  that  is,  from  eleven  o'clock  until  three 
on  a  hot  summer's  day,  is  complete. 

Leaving  Twin  Lakes  after  a  stay  of  some 
six  weeks,  we  proceeded  by  another  route  out  of 
the  mountains,  through  the  Ute  Pass  to  Colorado 
Springs.  I  can  allude  only  to  a  few  days  spent 
at  the  latter  place.  A  visit  to  the  Garden  of  the 
Gods,  where,  for  the  first  time,  I  saw  the  white- 
bellied  swift  breeding  in  the  crannies  of  the 
monuments,  towers,  and  cliffs  of  this  fitly-named 
park,  suggested  that,  before  the  advent  of  houses, 
his  kinsman,  the  chimney-swift,  probably  took 
advantage  of  similar  sites  for  building  nests  and 
rearing  young.  Perhaps  it  is  necessary  to  be 
more  explicit. 

Obviously  three  hundred  years  ago  the  chim- 


128  THE   STORY  OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

ney-swift  of  North  America  could  not  have  bred 
in  chimneys,  for  probably  there  were  none.  The 
fact  that  the  civilization  and  settlement  of  a  new 
country  can  so  radically  affect  all  the  representa- 
tives of  a  given  kind  of  bird  as  to  change  its 
breeding  habits,  at  least  so  far  as  its  disposition  of 
the  nest  is  concerned,  is  suggestive. 

An  agreeable  recollection  of  the  brief  stay  we 
made  at  Colorado  Springs  is  a  pleasant  acquaint- 
ance formed  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jackson,  which 
added  a  new  interest,  if  that  were  needed,  to  the 
graphic  and  picturesque  descriptions  of  the  West 
and  Western  life,  which  Mrs.  Jackson,  as  "  H.  H." 
gave  to  the  world. 

Presently  we  were  again  crossing  the  plains; 
and  in  a  little  time  the  pleasures  of  the  summer 
were  retrospects,  while  the  tangible  results  of  the 
work  accomplished  on  this  expedition  were  appar- 
ent in  the  additions  (some  seven  hundred  birds  in 
all)  to  the  collections  of  the  growing  museum. 

During  the  succeeding  university  year,  that  of 
1878  and  1879,  my  work  kept  me  in  Princeton. 
It  was  the  regular,  routine  kind,  consisting  of 
my  duties  as  curator  of  the  museum,  instruc- 
tion to  special  students,  of  whom  I  had  several  this 
year,  and  a  course  of  lectures  and  laboratory  work 
on  comparative  anatomy  of  vertebrate  animals. 

It  is  my  purpose  to  discuss  briefly  at  this  point 
some  of  the  conditions  that  existed  in  the  bird 


THE  PLAINS  AND  COLORADO  129 

life  of  Princeton  in  the  years  from  1875  to  1881, 
and  to  compare  them  with  those  of  to-day. 

Most  of  us  are  aware  that  the  fauna  and  flora 
of  a  given  region  is  liable  to  slow  and  gradual 
change.  Perhaps  few  of  us  realize  how  rapid  and 
radical  such  development  may  become.  Some- 
times this  is  effected  by  the  adventitious  aid  of 
man,  a  good  example  of  which  is  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  English  sparrow  into  North  America. 
More  recently  the  starling  has  been  naturalized, 
and  has  become  plentiful  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  New  York  City  as  a  wild  bird. 

The  stories  of  our  earlier  observers  dwell  upon 
the  abundance  of  the  wild  turkey  throughout  all 
eastern  North  America,  and  of  the  heath-hen  at 
various  points  in  the  same  region.  Except  in 
remote  and  unsettled  districts  the  wild  turkey  has 
disappeared  as  a  part  of  bird  life,  and  the  heath- 
hen  exists  only  in  limited  numbers  on  the  island 
of  Martha's  Vineyard.  These  are  examples  of  the 
kind  of  change  indicated. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  wild  pigeons  that  bred  in 
the  vicinity  of  Mount  Auburn  Cemetery  in  Cam- 
bridge during  my  college  days.  One  of  the  nota- 
ble features  of  bird  life  in  the  vicinity  of  Princeton 
which  attracted  my  attention  were  the  spring  and 
fall  flights  of  the  passenger-pigeon.  Very  con- 
siderable colonies  also  nested  in  the  woods  along 
the  ridge  known  as  Rocky  Hill.  In  those  days 


i3o  THE  STORY   OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

most  sportsmen  in  late  September  and  October 
took  advantage  of  the  well-known  migrations  of 
pigeons.  Many  were  taken  with  the  gun.  In  ad- 
dition, a  number  of  the  older  farmers  living  along 
the  ridge  used  annually,  in  the  early  seventies,  to 
net  pigeons  in  their  fall  flight.  The  method  by 
which  this  was  accomplished  is  too  well  known 
to  be  dealt  with  in  detail. 

In  the  years  of  1875  anc^  ^76,  in  company 
with  Charlie  Hubbard,  I  went  regularly  every 
autumn  to  trap  the  birds  in  this  way.  In  the 
autumn  of  1876  a  single  fall  of  the  net  resulted  in 
obtaining  upward  of  forty  birds.  This  detail  is 
given  to  show  how  common  this  bird  was  at  so 
recent  a  date  in  New  Jersey. 

At  Ithaca,  during  my  stay  at  Cornell,  I  wit- 
nessed large  flights  of  passenger-pigeons,  and  in 
Virginia,  in  1872,  enormous  flocks  feasted  on  the 
beech  mast  of  the  forest,  as  they  passed  through 
each  season.  At  present  I  think  it  is  safe  to  say 
that  no  wild  pigeons  have  been  observed  in  the 
vicinity  of  Princeton  for  at  least  twelve  or  four- 
teen years.  They  disappeared  from  Cambridge 
much  earlier. 

So  far  as  we  know,  this  disappearance  has 
affected  a  wide  area  in  eastern  North  America ; 
and  the  only  point  in  the  region  where  the  pas- 
senger-pigeon still  exists  and  breeds  in  numbers  is 
in  the  state  of  Michigan. 


THE   PLAINS  AND   COLORADO  131 

Among  the  small  birds  that  were  once  plentiful 
and  are  now  practically  unknown,  is  the  black- 
throated  bunting.  This  bird  was  formerly  of 
local  distribution,  and  common  from  the  Middle 
States  southward.  In  my  early  collecting  about 
Princeton,  the  presence  of  black-throated  buntings 
was  regular,  but  even  then  the  number  of  repre- 
sentatives was  not  large. 

The  wood-duck  and  the  Bartramian  sandpiper 
formerly  bred  commonly  in  the  region.  On  my 
first  trips  up  and  down  the  Millstone  River, 
broods  of  wood-ducks  were  to  be  surely  reckoned 
on,  and  the  Bartramian  sandpiper  was  abundant, 
breeding  in  all  suitable  large  grass  fields.  Both 
birds  still  occur  in  limited  numbers  as  migrants, 
and  a  few  may  rarely  breed.  It  is  clear,  therefore, 
that  a  change  has  been  in  progress  during  appre- 
ciable time,  and  is  going  on  even  at  the  present. 

Manifestly  the  extermination  of  a  bird  like  the 
great  auk,  which  did  not  possess  the  power  of 
flight,  and  which  afforded  to  the  seamen  and  ex- 
plorers of  early  days  fresh  food  in  abundance,  was 
an  event  largely  due  to  the  direct  acts  of  human 
beings.  That  a  bird  like  the  Labrador  duck 
should,  within  the  last  fifty  years,  have  dis- 
appeared from  the  bird  life  of  America,  is  not 
only  remarkable,  but  not  so  easily  explained. 
The  history  of  the  disappearance  and  some  data 
concerning  the  former  occurrences  of  this  duck 


1 32  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

are  well  set  forth  in  recent  papers  dealing  with 
the  subject. 

The  latest  known  living  specimen  was  killed 
in  Halifax  Harbor  in  the  autumn  of  1852,  and  it 
is  supposed  that  three  others  were  obtained  be- 
tween that  time  and  1861.  It  is  even  rumored 
that  as  late  as  1878  individuals  were  captured. 
The  late  George  N.  Lawrence  of  New  York  told 
me  that  along  about  1840  the  Labrador  duck  was 
exposed  every  winter  for  sale  in  Fulton  Market, 
New  York,  among  other  examples  of  sea-ducks. 
Mr.  Akhurst,  a  taxidermist  of  Brooklyn,  New 
York,  has  also  related  to  me  that  between  the 
years  1848  and  1850  he  obtained  several  speci- 
mens at  different  times  which  he  shipped  to  natu- 
ralists and  collectors  in  England  and  Germany; 
that  it  was  not  especially  rare  at  the  time,  and 
that  no  one  then  apprehended  that  the  career  of 
this  species  was  so  near  its  termination.  It  must 
be  taken  into  account  that  the  Labrador  duck, 
moreover,  possessed  great  powers  of  flight,  being 
a  migratory  species  which  appeared  regularly  in 
the  waters  about  Long  Island  and  on  the  coast 
of  New  England,  every  winter.  Besides,  it  was 
so  common  that  it  was  often  found,  as  has  been 
shown,  in  the  game  bags  of  the  gunners  who 
hunted  for  the  market  in  those  days. 

Allowing  the  possibility  of  individuals  occurring 
even  as  late  as  1878,  they  are  certainly  the  last 


THE   PLAINS  AND   COLORADO  133 

ones  known ;  and  hence  the  present  generation  is 
contemporary  with  the  termination  of  a  given  kind 
of  bird. 

Now,  there  are  many  other  kinds  of  sea-ducks 
of  similar  migratory  habits  to  the  one  under  con- 
sideration, notably  the  different  species  of  eider- 
duck,  and  the  various  birds  classed  under  the 
head  of  surf-ducks  or  coots,  not  to  mention  the 
old  squaws,  the  golden  eye,  and  their  allies.  It 
therefore  does  not  seem  probable  that  by  any  in- 
fluence exerted  by  men,  and  certainly  not  the 
efforts  of  game-  and  pot-hunters,  was  the  extermi- 
nation of  this  species  accomplished.  Such  a 
result  must  be  inevitable  to  aggregations  of  indi- 
viduals of  a  given  kind  to  which  we  apply  the 
term  "  species."  They  have  their  beginning,  their 
rise  and  culmination,  and  their  end,  much  as  is 
the  case  with  nations,  to  which  they  may  be 
likened.  The  point  which  I  wish  to  emphasize 
here  is  that  the  process  of  organic  evolution  is 
not  something  of  the  past ;  the  present  period  is 
as  much  concerned  with  it  as  any,  and  the  above 
facts  are  recited  to  show  that,  under  our  very 
eyes,  something  that  most  of  us  look  upon  as  a 
remote  force,  which  had  its  chief  action  in  the 
early  history  of  the  world,  is  still  potent,  and 
carries  on  its  work  now.  In  short,  species  origi- 
nate and  disappear  to-day  just  as  they  have  always 
done.  I  said  "originate,"  and  I  shall  presently, 


i34  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

in  the  course  of  this  narrative,  give  the  history  of 
what  I  believe  is  the  birth  of  a  species  of  wild 
song-bird  within  the  past  fifty  years.  Our  first 
knowledge  of  it,  how  long  the  type  was  soli- 
tary, how  rarely  it  was  duplicated,  how  it  became 
more  common,  and  how  readily  any  good  field- 
naturalist  may  go  forth  almost  at  our  doorsteps 
and  observe  it  to-day,  all  will  be  related. 

Now,  the  facts  with  regard  to  the  changes 
which  I  have  exemplified  by  details  bearing  on 
the  bird  fauna  of  the  vicinity  of  Princeton,  are 
simply  some  of  the  steps  in  the  evolution  of  the 
several  species  mentioned.  It  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  evolution  does  not  necessarily  mean 
growth ;  it  does  not  necessarily  mean  betterment, 
but  may  as  frequently  mean  decadence  and  de- 
generation. Nor  must  the  reader  consider  for 
a  moment  that  a  pessimistic  point  of  view  is 
to  be  founded  on  the  generalizations  which  I 
have  tried  to  substantiate.  Listen  to  the  other 
side. 

It  is  beyond  debate  that  the  wood-thrush,  one 
of  the  most  lovable,  charming,  and  dignified  song- 
birds, has  vastly  increased  in  proportion  during 
the  last  fifty  years ;  that  its  habits  have  been  so 
far  modified  that,  while  it  was  once  a  bird  of  the 
deep  forest,  whence  its  name,  it  is  now  common  in 
every  rural  town  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York,  and 
its  song  is  more  frequent  in  Central  Park,  in  the 


THE   PLAINS  AND   COLORADO  135 

proper  season,  than  it  was  in  the  deep  forest  in 
the  days  of  Wilson  and  Audubon. 

The  increase  during  the  last  fifteen  years  of 
the  robin  and  meadow-lark  in  the  bird-world  of 
the  vicinity  of  Princeton  is  noticeable. 

Writing  this,  sitting  under  the  trees  on  the 
edge  of  the  village,  I  can  hear  hosts  of  bobolinks 
frolicking  over  the  fields  close  by.  In  my  early 
Princeton  collecting  I  regarded  the  bobolink  as 
an  uncommon  breeding  bird.  In  the  field  from 
which  the  singing  comes  at  least  fifty  pair  breed 
annually. 

Another  bird  which  appears  to  have  increased 
greatly  in  numbers  during  the  past  twenty  years 
is  the  Baltimore  oriole.  The  orchard  orioles 
have  always  been  during  my  experience  common 
throughout  the  migration  and  breeding  season. 
The  grace  and  beauty  of  their  form  and  color 
enlivened  every  hedge-row,  and  their  song  was 
ever  present  to  charm  the  ear.  It  was  otherwise 
with  the  Baltimores ;  they  were  in  the  category  of 
the  bobolink.  Yet  to-day  almost  every  yard  has 
its  pair  which  nest  and  rear  a  brood ;  and  over 
the  very  streets,  when  the  leaves  are  fallen  in  the 
autumn,  numbers  of  nests  of  the  last  season  are 
to  be  seen.  Surely  all  this  justifies  an  optimistic 
rather  than  a  pessimistic  view. 

In  concluding  this  part  of  the  narrative,  I  wish 
to  dwell  for  a  moment  on  the  bird  known  as 


136  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

Brewster's  warbler.  The  type  specimen  was 
taken  by  Mr.  William  Brewster  at  Newtonville, 
Massachusetts,  May  i8th,  1870.  It  was  not  until 
some  six  years  later,  April,  1876,  that  the  bird 
was  described  and  named  by  Mr.  Brewster. 
During  this  long  interval  it  was  one  of  many 
birds  in  his  private  collection ;  and  while  he 
and  other  young  naturalists  who  visited  him 
recognized  that  it  was  like  no  other  bird,  yet  it 
appeared,  on  the  whole,  to  be  something  like  a 
female  golden-winged  warbler.  However,  it  was 
at  last  given  a  name.  This  naturally  attracted  a 
wider  attention  than  had  the  solitary  specimen  in 
the  cabinet.  On  May  12,  1877,  Mr.  Christopher 
Wood  killed  the  second  recorded  specimen  at 
Clifton,  Pennsylvania.  Like  the  first  it  proved 
to  be  a  male,  and  was  almost  identical  with 
the  type  in  appearance.  The  third  recorded 
individual  was  killed  long  before  either  of  the 
others.  It  was  found  in  the  collection  of  the 
Philadelphia  Academy  of  Sciences,  labelled  "  J. 
C.,  20  October,  1862."  It  had  no  other  his- 
tory, but  it  must  have  been  at  one  time  in  the 
collection  of  John  Cassin,  Esq.,  for  the  label  is 
in  his  handwriting.  As  the  years  rolled  on  the 
birds  were  collected  in  numbers,  until  in  October, 
1885,  twenty-two  had  been  recorded.  From  that 
time  the  records  have  increased,  and  there  are 
now  something  considerably  over  a  hundred  of 


THE   PLAINS   AND   COLORADO  137 

these  birds  in  different  collections.  In  certain 
regions,  notably  at  Englewood,  New  Jersey,  and 
in  parts  of  southern  Connecticut,  they  may  be 
seen  every  year  during  the  breeding  season 
with  certainty.  Every  good  naturalist  who  has 
worked  recently  in  the  lower  Hudson  River 
valley  has  met  with  some  of  these  birds.  So 
it  is  a  tangible  part  of  the  fauna  of  eastern 
North  America  now,  and  its  presence  can  be 
readily  detected  in  given  localities  at  definite 
times  of  the  year. 

It  does  not  seem  probable  that  a  form  so  com- 
mon as  this,  and  ranging  over  as  large  an  area  as 
from  Pennsylvania  to  Massachusetts,  should  have 
remained  unknown  to  our  earlier  ornithologists: 
such  keen  field-naturalists  as  Audubon  and 
Wilson,  Baird,  Cassin  and  Lawrence,  Coues  and 
Prentiss.  Nuttall  made  careful  and  prolonged 
study  of  birds  in  the  region  where  Mr.  Brewster's 
type  was  collected.  Yet  none  of  these  close 
observers  and  good  collectors  either  recorded  or 
collected  this  bird.  The  presumption  is  that  the 
birds  could  not  have  been  so  common  early  in  the 
nineteenth  century  as  they  are  now,  if  they  were 
represented  at  all  at  that  time.  Nor  does  it  seem 
that  either  the  theories  of  hybridity,  or  that  of 
dichromatism,  are  sufficient  to  account  for  this 
kind  of  bird.  Fertile  hybrids  are  practically 
unknown  either  in  wild  or  domesticated  birds. 


138  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

That  many  good  field-ornithologists  declare  that 
they  have  seen  Brewster's  warbler  attending  to 
young  seems  an  answer  in  itself  to  the  hypoth- 
esis of  hybridity,  did  not  the  number  of  indi- 
viduals in  themselves  controvert  such  a  premise. 
Hybrids  do  occur  among  wild  birds,  but  are 
casual. 

If  then  it  is  conceded  that  it  is  improbable 
that  over  a  hundred  cases  of  wild  hybridity  have 
been  recorded  between  the  golden-winged  and 
blue-winged  warbler,  the  dichroic  hypothesis 
remains.  Granted  that  this  bird  and  the  other 
two  are  all  one  kind  with  several  dichroic  phases, 
this  particular  example  of  the  dichromatism,  which 
is  now  of  measurable  occurrence  and  quantity, 
apparently  did  not  occur  at  all  early  in  the  last 
century,  was  not  secured  until  1862,  not  recognized 
till  1875,  and  from  that  time  on  has  grown  in  a 
geometrical  ratio.  That  may  be,  but  I  am  more 
inclined  to  believe  that  in  Brewster's  warbler  we 
have  the  beginning  of  a  new  form  of  organic  life. 
That  such  forms,  especially  when  based  on  exter- 
nal color,  should  present  wide  individual  variation 
in  their  early  history  seems  probable.  Brewster's 
warbler  does  show  such  variation.  That  a  long 
period  must  elapse  before  the  bird's  standard  of 
appearances  becomes  fixed  so  as  to  be  within  the 
conventional  limits  of  variation  observable  in 
well-defined  forms,  seems  obvious. 


THE  PLAINS  AND  COLORADO  139 

It  is  on  this  series  of  facts  and  arguments  that  I 
have  assumed  the  position,  and  felt  warranted  in 
making  the  statement,  that  in  the  last  fifty  years 
a  new  kind  or  species  of  wild  song-bird  has 
originated. 


CHAPTER   VII 

FLORIDA:  THE  GULF  COAST 

THE  fall  of  1878  and  the  following  winter  was 
spent  in  building  up  the  museum  collections  in 
general,  and  in  adding  the  material  obtained  in 
Colorado  to  that  already  on  exhibition. 

During  the  summer  of  1879  I  passed  some 
time  at  Ithaca,  securing  birds  of  that  locality  for 
the  growing  collection.  During  this  vacation 
a  second  trip  to  Florida  was  planned,  particularly 
to  examine  the  bird  fauna  of  the  Gulf  coast 
of  that  region.  This  expedition  was  carried  on 
largely  through  the  assistance  of  Andrew  E. 
Douglass,  Esq.,  of  New  York,  who  was  desirous 
of  having  certain  ethnological  investigations  made 
in  the  region  in  question.  He  wished  to  locate 
definitely  some  of  the  burial  mounds  of  the  ancient 
inhabitants  of  Florida,  and  to  have  one  or  two  of 
these  explored  with  a  view  to  obtain,  not  only  the 
implements  of  the  aborigines,  but,  if  possible, 
crania  and  other  parts  of  the  skeleton. 

The  month  of  September  was  spent  largely 
in  preparations  for  the  proposed  expedition. 

140 


FLORIDA :  THE   GULF   COAST  141 

Through  the  courtesy  of  the  Quartermaster- 
general,  the  State  of  New  Jersey  furnished  several 
wall  tents,  and  an  array  of  army  blankets  and  other 
paraphernalia  suitable  for  camping.  About  to 
invade  a  region  regarding  which  little  information 
could  be  gained,  the  necessity  of  being  indepen- 
dent was  apparent.  Therefore,  in  addition  to  this 
camping  apparatus  substantial  portable  staples  in 
the  way  of  food  were  a  part  of  the  equipment. 
The  personnel  of  the  party  consisted  of  Mrs. 
Scott,  myself,  and  a  young  man,  James  Henry 
Devereux,  who  had  formerly  been  a  student  in 
the  college  and  who  volunteered  to  go  as  my 
assistant.  In  addition  there  was  Mary  Mason, 
capable  of  administering  the  domestic  economy 
of  either  camp  or  house.  Nor  must  Grouse  be 
forgotten ;  he  was  one  of  the  important  members 
of  the  party. 

We  left  New  York  by  steamer  for  Jacksonville 
about  the  loth  of  October,  and  after  a  somewhat 
stormy  passage  reached  that  port.  An  incident 
of  this  part  of  the  journey  seems  worthy  of  record. 

I  said  that  the  voyage  was  somewhat  stormy. 
When  off  Cape  Hatteras  the  traditional  gale  of 
wind  associated  with  that  part  of  the  coast  was 
encountered.  On  embarking  in  New  York  I 
was  informed,  as  was  to  be  expected,  that  Grouse 
could  not  be  allowed  to  go  above  decks  on  any 
pretence.  He  was  at  once  taken  in  charge  by  a 


i42  THE   STORY  OF   A  BIRD   LOVER 

steward,  who  locked  him  up  in  a  room  in  the 
hold,  where  he  assured  me  the  dog  would  be  safe 
and  well  looked  after.  Our  staterooms  were  on 
the  hurricane-deck.  Mr.  Devereux,  my  assistant, 
occupied  a  cabin  with  me,  and  the  other  two  were 
near  by.  These  cabins  were  entered  by  doors 
opening  on  deck.  During  the  height  of  the  gale 
off  Cape  Hatteras,  when  the  wind  and  rain 
together  were  making  an  uproar,  to  which  was 
added  the  creaking  and  groaning  of  the  ship  and 
laboring  of  the  engine,  Mr.  Devereux  and  I  were 
awakened  (it  took  little  to  arouse  us)  by  a  scratch- 
ing at  the  door  of  the  stateroom.  It  was  Grouse ; 
and  getting  up  and  opening  the  door,  he  was  dis- 
covered in  a  drenched  condition,  but  overjoyed  to 
have  found  his  friends.  The  point  to  be  empha- 
sized is  the  fact  that  this  dog  was  travelling  for 
the  first  time  on  board  a  steamer.  He  had  never 
been  on  a  large  vessel  before,  for  his  former  trip 
to  Florida  had  been  by  rail.  He  was  not  allowed 
to  do  more  than  cross  the  steamer's  gangplank 
when  he  was  taken  by  the  steward  and  confined 
below.  In  order  to  reach  my  stateroom  he  had 
either  to  ascend  various  stairways  in  the  interior 
of  the  ship  and  pass  through  the  cabins  and  so 
escape  to  the  upper  deck,  or  to  climb  up  the 
semi-stairlike  ladders  that  connected  the  three 
decks  on  the  outside.  He  probably  followed  this 
latter  course.  Moreover,  in  all  the  tumult  and 


FLORIDA:  THE   GULF   COAST  143 

strangeness  he  selected  my  room  though  other 
of  his  friends  were  quartered  close  by. 

To  this  day  the  details  of  his  trip,  or  how  he 
escaped  from  the  place  where  he  was  shut  up,  are 
a  mystery.  The  whole  affair,  however,  becoming 
known,  caused  much  comment  among  the  officers 
and  passengers,  and  finally  came  to  the  ears  of 
the  captain.  After  breakfast  the  next  morning, 
he  said  to  me :  "  Mr.  Scott,  that's  a  clever  dog  of 
yours.  I  don't  think  such  a  dog  need  be  under 
restraint,  and  I  wish  to  extend  to  him  the  liberty 
of  the  ship."  From  that  time  until  Florida  was 
reached  Grouse  sat  at  the  captain's  table  and 
enjoyed  all  the  privileges  of  a  first-class  passenger, 
and  many  more. 

The  journey  from  Jacksonville  was  to  Ocala,  a 
town  some  five  miles  from  the  headwaters  of  the 
Ocklawaha  River  at  Silver  Spring.  Therefore, 
the  first  part  of  the  route  was  familiar. 

I  had  pictured  the  Ocklawaha  as  it  appeared 
four  years  earlier,  and  had  excited  the  imagina- 
tion of  the  other  members  of  the  party  by  stories 
of  the  birds,  the  alligators,  and  the  charm  and 
novelty  of  the  trip.  Confident  of  a  great  pleasure 
in  store  for  us  all,  I  did  not  dream  that  any  change 
could  have  taken  place  in  the  short  time  which  had 
elapsed.  However,  the  first  few  miles  of  the  wind- 
ing waterway,  after  leaving  Palatka,  was  marked  by 
wide  and  radical  difference  in  the  conditions,  and 


i44  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

the  remaining  days'  and  nights'  journey  on  the 
river  fully  confirmed  the  impression  of  the  first 
few  miles. 

There  was  little  or  no  bird  life  of  any  kind,  and 
such  as  occurred  was  confined  almost  entirely  to 
small,  inconspicuous  land-species.  Now  and  then 
a  frightened  heron  would  fly  croaking  away  as 
the  boat  turned  some  bend  in  the  river,  or  a  water- 
turkey  would  drop  scared  from  his  perch  into  the 
water,  diving  to  escape  further  notice.  No  groups 
of  ibises,  no  flocks  of  paroquets,  no  droves  of 
wild  turkeys,  enlivened  either  the  trees  or  shores. 
Only  one  or  two  alligators  were  seen,  and  but  a 
glimpse  of  these  was  obtained  as  they  hastily 
sought  the  water  when  the  steamer  was  afar  off. 
Such  conditions  had  resulted  from  the  almost 
universal  practice  of  the  passengers  on  these 
steamers  of  shooting  at  everything  alive.  It  had 
taken  only  four  seasons  to  drive  away  from  one  of 
the  most  crowded  bird  districts  it  has  ever  been 
my  fortune  to  see  almost  its  entire  avian  popula- 
tion, certainly  its  most  conspicuous  elements. 

Inquiry  among  the  crew  of  the  boat  who 
were  accustomed  to  make  the  passage  frequently — 
once  or  twice  a  week  —  revealed  all  this,  and 
while  they  deplored  it,  they  were  disposed  to 
blame  the  birds  and  other  animals  that  were 
frightened  away,  rather  than  to  censure  the  travel- 
lers who  had  produced  this  lamentable  end.  The 


FLORIDA:  THE   GULF   COAST  145 

captain  too  explained  to  me  that  it  was  really  a 
serious  drawback,  in  a  business  way.  People  had 
formerly  taken  the  trip  simply  for  the  shooting,  and 
this  being  destroyed,  many  no  longer  patronized 
the  route.  So  our  journey  began  with  disillusion 
and  disappointment 

Arriving  at  Silver  Spring,  and  proceeding  to  the 
adjacent  town  of  Ocala,  I  at  once  set  about  looking 
for  means  of  transit  across  the  state  to  the  Gulf 
Coast.  While  no  definite  spot  as  a  headquarters 
for  the  coming  winter's  work  had  been  selected, 
I  was  anxious  to  begin  my  investigations  in  the 
country  near  the  mouth  of  the  Withlacoochee 
River,  which  finds  its  source  in  Sumter  County, 
and  one  of  whose  main  tributaries  flows  from 
Panasofkee  Lake  where  I  had  collected  in  the 
winter  of  1875  and  1876.  After  some  two  days' 
negotiations  I  succeeded  in  making  arrangements 
for  freight  wagons  and,  in  addition,  a  covered 
spring  trap  to  convey  the  passengers.  We  were 
about  to  go  into  a  country  where  there  were  few 
houses, and  where  the  roads  were  but  obscure  tracks 
through  the  forest,  so  I  attempted  to  provide  for  all 
sorts  of  emergencies ;  grain  and  fodder  and  extra 
shoes  for  the  horses,  leather  to  mend  harness, 
ropes,  axes,  and  other  tools. 

The  procession  started  from  Ocala  early  one 
morning,  and  most  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town 
were  out  to  see  its  departure.  First  came  a  freight 


J46  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

wagon  driven  by  an  ebony  negro  known  as  Black 
Tom,  who  professed  to  have  a  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  the  route  to  our  destination.  This  was 
encouraging,  as  I  was  not  at  all  sure  where  it 
might  be.  This  wagon  was  loaded  with  trunks 
and  army  chests,  a  portable  canvas  boat,  and  tents. 
The  second  vehicle  of  the  cavalcade,  also  devoted 
to  baggage,  was  driven  by  another  negro,  dis- 
tinguished from  the  pioneer  driver  as  Yellow 
Tom,  his  color  rendering  that  name  fitting.  The 
passengers  brought  up  the  rear,  our  driver,  a 
negro  boy,  rejoicing  in  the  name  of  Amaziah. 

Black  Tom,  Yellow  Tom,  and  Amaziah,  for 
the  next  three  or  four  days  were  words  much  in 
our  mouths,  and  came  to  be  part  of  the  house- 
hold vocabulary.  The  whole  thing  impressed 
these  darkies  as  the  greatest  possible  frolic  next  to 
a  circus,  and  it  would  be  interesting  psychologi- 
cally to  know  more  in  detail  their  understanding 
of  the  affair.  Presumably  they  believed  us  all 
to  be  millionnaires  who  did  not  know  what 
to  do  with  our  money,  and  who  were  out  for  a 
good  time.  Tourists  were  not  common  in  that 
part  of  Florida  in  those  days ;  from  October  until 
April,  when  we  left  the  Gulf  Coast,  we  encountered 
only  a  single  individual  besides  our  own  party 
who  might  possibly  be  included  in  that  category. 

The  journey  across  the  state  to  the  Gulf  can 
only  be  touched  on.  The  way  led  through  long 


FLORIDA:  THE   GULF  COAST  147 

stretches  of  pine  forest,  —  a  seeming  procession 
of  trees.  This  was  varied  by  "bayheads"  and 
"cypresses"  which  indicated  streams  of  greater 
or  less  extent,  down  whose  steep  banks  we 
plunged  into  fords  of  all  grades  of  difficulty. 
The  road  was,  after  the  first  few  miles,  always  in 
doubt.  Often  it  appeared  to  lead  nowhere.  On 
such  occasions  Black  Tom,  Yellow  Tom,  and 
Amaziah  each  accused  the  other  of  losing  the 
way.  These  lengthy  and  often  heated  discussions 
consumed  valuable  time,  and  had  to  be  summarily 
suppressed  by  the  powers  in  authority.  Some- 
times at  noon  or  during  the  night  (for  we  were  two 
nights  on  the  way)  a  horse  was  lost,  which  involved 
tedious  delay  and  much  chatter  on  the  part  of  the 
three.  Sometimes  a  break  in  the  harness  afforded 
opportunity  to  make  short  excursions  in  the 
vicinity  while  the  damage  was  repaired.  In 
short,  every  kind  of  petty  accident  conceivable 
happened,  yet  the  trip  was  enjoyable,  and  the 
humor  of  the  situation  generally  compensated 
for  all  annoyance. 

Finally,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  third  day,  when 
a  certain  sense  of  indefiniteness  and  discourage- 
ment was  beginning  to  manifest  itself  in  various 
ways,  we  encountered  a  horseman,  one  of  the  first 
persons  we  had  seen  since  leaving  Ocala.  He  was 
of  a  magnificent  physique,  broad-shouldered,  with 
a  mighty  chest ;  a  sturdy  and  resolute-looking  per- 


148  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

son  with  a  commanding  air,  differing  entirely  from 
the  cadaverous  white  of  the  region,  "  the  piney 
woods  cracker."  His  brown  hair  was  beginning 
to  be  thin  on  top,  and  was  somewhat  silvered  with 
streaks  of  gray,  as  was  the  flowing  beard  whose 
luxuriance  almost  concealed  the  chest  beneath. 
The  horse  he  rode  was,  like  the  man,  well  kept, 
well  groomed,  and  mettlesome.  He  reined  in  his 
horse,  and  was  greeted  by  Black  Tom  as  Dr. 

H .    Before  leaving  Ocala  I  had  been  assured 

that  there  was  a  magnate  living  on  an  island 
somewhere  near  the  mouth  of  the  Withlacoochee 
who  possessed  riches  untold  in  lands  and  moneys, 
and  who,  in  addition  to  his  own  house,  had 
several  other  dwellings  on  his  extensive  estate. 
From  my  former  experience  in  Florida  and  my 
knowledge  of  the  condition  of  affairs  generally 
existing  throughout  the  region,  I  of  course  took 
all  this  with  a  grain  of  salt. 

However,  here  was  the  doctor,  and  so  much 
of  the  story  was  true.  He  appeared  a  genial 
gentleman,  and  ascertaining  our  desires  and  hopes, 
comprehended  the  situation  almost  instantly.  He 
gave  us  some  brief  directions,  excusing  himself 
for  not  accompanying  us,  as  his  business  took  him 
in  another  direction  and  was  imperative.  We 
could  rest  that  night,  he  told  us,  at  the  house  of  a 

friend  of  his,  General  C ,  where  we  would  find 

all  possible  hospitality  by  mentioning  his  name. 


FLORIDA:  THE   GULF   COAST  149 

He  gave  us  explicit,  though  to  all  save  the  darkies 
obscure,  directions  how  to  reach  the  place,  some 
seven  or  eight  miles  distant.  It  was  only  a  few 
miles  from  our  ultimate  destination,  for  he  told  us 
that  he  had  on  a  little  island,  not  far  from  his  own 
dwelling,  a  small  house  which  he  thought  would 
answer,  especially  when  he  learned  that  we  were 
amply  supplied  with  tents.  The  whole  inter- 
view did  not  occupy  much  longer  than  it  takes  in 
telling.  The  doctor  vanished  into  the  pine  woods, 
and  we  resumed  our  journey.  Eight  miles  did 
not  seem  far  to  travel,  but  with  heavy  freight  wag- 
ons, slow  walking,  tired  horses,  and  dispirited 
drivers  (for  by  this  time  the  novelty  had  begun  to 
wear  off),  it  was  night,  and  some  time  after,  a  slow, 
drizzling  rain  was  falling,  when  we  were  made 
aware  by  shouts  from  Black  Tom,  who  was  lost 
in  the  darkness  ahead,  and  by  the  barking  of  dogs, 
that  we  had  reached  our  destination. 

A  cordial  welcome  to  his  lonely  cottage  was 

extended  to  us  by  General  C ,  a  retired  veteran 

of  the  Mexican  and  Seminole  wars,  whose  fortunes 
had  led  him  to  this  remote  wilderness  as  the  home 
of  his  old  age.  We  sat  far  into  the  night  before 
the  blazing  pine-knot  fire  talking  on  many  themes. 
The  general  was  eager  for  human  intercourse 
and  an  opportunity  to  talk  of  the  world's  past  and 
present  affairs.  His  look  and  bearing  was  that 
of  a  Huguenot  of  noble  birth,  and  he  may  well 


ISO  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

have  been,  as  his  name  indicates,  a  descendant  of 
one  of  the  refugees,  who  at  the  Revocation  of  the 
Edict  of  Nantes  sought  asylum  in  Florida.  All 
our  current  literature,  papers  and  magazines,  we 
gladly  left  with  our  kind  host,  to  whom  they 
were  a  gift  of  price.  On  parting  in  the  early 
morning  we  mutually  promised  to  keep  up  neigh- 
borly relations  during  the  coming  months. 

General  C 's  place  was  at  the  head  of  a 

bayou  which  led  out  to  the  waters  of  the  Gulf, 
and  we  found  that  by  this  waterway  we  could 
reach  our  destination  more  quickly  than  by  land. 
So  in  the  morning  Black  Tom  and  Yellow  Tom 
with  the  two  freight  wagons,  and  Amaziah  with 
the  empty  carriage,  now  containing  only  some 
hand  baggage,  were  sent  on  their  way.  The  rest 
of  the  party,  including  Grouse,  embarked  in  the 
portable  boat  which  had  just  been  unpacked.  This 
boat  was  some  seventeen  feet  long,  had  a  beam  of 
four  feet,  and  a  capacity  for  carrying  nearly  a  thou- 
sand pounds,  so  that  four  persons  and  a  dog  were 
not  a  great  load  for  it.  I  speak  of  it  as  a  portable 
boat.  It  was  made  of  waterproof  canvas  stretched 
on  a  very  light,  tough,  wood  frame,  and  was  so  con- 
structed that  when  not  in  use  it  could  be  shut  up 
like  an  accordion  and  put  into  a  box  not  quite  as 
large  as  an  ordinary  travelling  trunk.  It  was  a 
nondescript,  and  we  named  it  then  and  there  the 
"  Bandersnatch." 


FLORIDA:  THE   GULF   COAST  151 

Now,  when  the  three  darkies  saw  us  take  from 
the  trunk  what  appeared  to  be  a  bundle  of  can- 
vas, stretch  it  out,  and  by  the  use  of  a  few  wooden 
frames  and  bolts  convert  it  in  a  few  minutes  into 
a  boat,  in  which  we  embarked  and  rowed  away 
down  the  bayou,  their  wonder  could  not  find 
expression.  The  stories  they  told  of  that  part  of 
their  adventures  when  they  returned  to  Ocala  I 
think  must  have  become  a  part  of  the  legendary 
history  of  the  place,  as  I  have  frequently  had  it 
recited  to  me  in  different  forms  by  various  darkies 
and  white  men  at  intervals  for  years,  and  as  each 
year  rolled  by  the  miracle  grew  in  magnitude. 

The  place  where  we  reached  the  Gulf  was  about 
three  miles  north  of  the  mouth  of  the  Withlacoo- 
chee  River.  The  coast-line  is  not  definite  at  this 
point ;  perhaps  this  will  be  realized  as  the  narra- 
tive proceeds.  Many  bayous,  having  the  appear- 
ance of  streams  or  rivers,  reach  back  into  the 
swamps  and  pine  woods  which  border  the  Gulf, 
and  their  entrance  into  the  country  is  guarded 
by  numerous  small  islands  that  form  a  picturesque 
element  in  the  scene. 

One  of  these  islands,  half  a  mile  from  the  doc- 
tor's place,  belonged  to  one  Parson  Gigger,  who 
had  built  here  a  small  house.  The  reason  for 
the  absence  of  the  parson  was  carefully  explained 
in  detail,  but  I  am  inclined  to  the  hypothesis  that 
the  mysterious  Gigger  was  a  solar  myth.  The 


152  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

doctor  told  me  he  was  in  charge  of  the  place,  and 
that  I  could  rent  it  for  a  reasonable  price ;  which, 
after  a  short  negotiation,  resulted  in  our  moving 
to  what  we  called  Gigger's  Island,  where  we  resided 
until  some  time  after  the  first  of  the  next  January. 

The  little  island  was  covered  with  a  dense 
growth  of  cabbage  palmetto  which  concealed  in 
its  shade  a  tiny  house  of  three  rooms,  and  a  cis- 
tern—  a  wooden  tank  to  catch  water  from  the 
roof,  for  there  was  no  fresh  water  on  the  island  or 
in  the  vicinity  —  of  dimensions  almost  as  great 
as  the  house.  With  the  large  wall  tents  and 
other  conveniences  soon  a  comfortable  dwelling 
and  commodious  working  establishment  was  com- 
pleted. Then  began  the  labor  to  which  all  this 
effort  had  been  preliminary. 

The  prosaic  name  "  Gigger's  "  could  not  be  tol- 
erated by  Mrs.  Scott,  who  straightway  called  our 
romantic  retreat  "  Halcyon  Island."  This  title 
was  suggested  both  by  the  peaceful  calm  of  our 
solitude,  and  the  constant  presence  of  the  belted 
kingfisher,  whose  point  of  vantage  was  the  top- 
most bough  of  the  live-oak,  or  the  summit  of  a 
tall  palmetto.  From  these  heights  the  waters 
surrounding  the  island  were  commanded  by  the 
kingfisher's  keen  sight ;  small  fry  had  little  chance 
of  escape  when  he  pleased  to  swoop  down  on 
them.  The  gray  Spanish  moss  draped  the 
branches  of  the  oaks ;  clumps  of  dwarf  palmetto 


FLORIDA:  THE   GULF   COAST  153 

gave  decorative  effect  to  the  foreground.  The 
spicy  bay  fringed  the  abrupt  banks,  close  to  which 
schools  of  sportive  porpoise  came  to  roll  about 
and  frolic  in  the  shoal  waters. 

Housekeeping  was  carried  on  in  true  camp 
fashion,  though  we  were  not  without  many  con- 
veniences often  lacking  in  the  wilderness.  A  good 
cooking  stove  lessened  greatly  Mary's  labors,  but 
thereby  deprived  us  of  the  picturesque  in  the 
shape  of  Dutch  oven  and  camp  fire.  Fish  and 
crabs  of  the  best  were  always  to  be  had  for  the 
catching,  oysters  of  the  coon  variety  grew  near 
the  dock,  game  was  easily  obtainable.  Our  own 
stores  had  among  their  contents  a  large  supply  of 
olive  oil,  a  generous  quantity  of  chocolate  Menier, 
and  barrels  of  pilot  bread.  Onions  and  potatoes 
were  vegetables  always  to  be  had  at  Cedar  Keys. 
On  our  return  after  a  long  day  of  exploration  in 
the  Bandersnatch,  a  savory  fish  chowder,  a  broiled 
redfish,  or  a  game  pie  awaited  us,  flanked  by  a 
heaping  bowl  of  potato  salad.  Another  favorite 
dish  was  scouse,  made  of  crisp  pilot  bread  soaked 
in  boiling  water,  and  spread  with  butter. 

Life  in  the  open,  exercise  in  rowing  and  sail- 
ing, hunting,  swimming,  and  fishing,  insured 
good  digestion  and  an  appreciation  of  simple 
food.  Grouse  alone  rebelled ;  he  had  no  fond- 
ness for  a  vegetarian  diet,  relieved  only  by  fish 
which  he  despised  and  game  never  to  be  indulged 


154  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

in  by  a  well-trained  hunting  dog.  At  last  a  day 
came  when  a  baked  ham  appeared  on  the  dinner 
table.  Grouse  was  given  a  morsel  or  two,  but 
his  carnivorous  longings  were  unappeased.  The 
same  evening  he  came  into  the  sitting  room  look- 
ing crestfallen  and  dejected,  gave  a  low  bark  to 
attract  my  attention,  and  then  ran  to  the  door. 
I  understood  his  meaning;  he  wanted  me  to  go 
with  him.  I  followed  out  of  the  house.  He  led 
me  across  the  island  in  the  moonlight,  and  showed 
me  the  ham  lying  on  a  fallen  palmetto  leaf.  He 
had  stolen  it,  but  his  conscience  would  not  per- 
mit him  to  eat  it,  hungry  as  he  was.  His  attitude 
expressed  both  humiliation,  penitence,  and  a  long- 
ing for  forgiveness.  He  could  not  keep  his  secret. 
Until  now  my  studies  of  the  birds  of  Florida 
had  been  confined  to  the  interior,  and  while 
aquatic  birds  were  abundant,  they  were  such  as  are 
associated  with  fresh  water.  Now  truly  marine 
birds  predominated.  Almost  at  once  I  became 
acquainted  with  brown  pelicans,  royal  and  Fos- 
ter's terns,  double-crested  cormorants,  while  ducks 
of  many  kinds  were  conspicuous.  Among  these 
I  may  mention  buff-breasted  and  hooded  mergan- 
sers, widgeons,  pintails,  blue-winged  teals,  and 
mallards.  In  addition  the  vast  palmetto  and 
cedar  swamps  of  the  mainland  hard  by  afforded 
excellent  collecting  ground  for  such  land-birds  as 
characterize  this  part  of  Florida.  Two  kinds  of 


FLORIDA:   THE   GULF   COAST  155 

vultures,  the  turkey-buzzard  and  the  black  buzzard, 
were  always  to  be  seen  in  numbers ;  and  among 
the  birds  of  prey,  the  bald  eagle  was  an  important 
as  well  as  imposing  figure.  Many  eagles  bred  in 
the  region,  and  of  the  two  nests  in  sight  of  our 
house  on  the  little  island,  one  was  close  by. 

Most  of  us  associate  the  breeding  of  birds 
with  the  awakening  of  nature,  with  the  coming  of 
the  springtime,  the  green  grass,  the  early  flowers, 
and  the  fresh  foliage  of  the  trees.  We  arrived  in 
this  part  of  Florida  late  in  October,  and  on  the 
loth  of  November  I  saw  the  eagles  repairing  their 
nests,  for  they  use  the  same  ones  if  undisturbed 
for  generations.  Late  in  the  month  the  first  eggs 
were  laid,  and  by  Christmas  there  were  young  in 
the  nest.  So  that  any  preconceived  notions  as 
to  the  breeding  time  of  birds,  such  as  I  have  indi- 
cated, needs  some  modification. 

Even  in  the  North,  the  facts  warrant  this  gen- 
eralization. Has  any  one  associated  the  month 
of  February  in  Princeton  or  the  vicinity  of  New 
York  with  the  breeding  of  birds  ?  And  yet  every 
year  the  great-horned  owls  build  their  nests  and 
lay  their  eggs  by  the  2oth  of  February  on  Rocky 
Hill,  back  of  Princeton.  The  woodcock  is  not 
far  behind  on  the  lowlands.  I  have  tracked  these 
birds  to  their  nesting  place  by  the  imprints  of 
their  feet  in  the  snow. 

One  of  the  latest  birds  to  breed  about  Prince- 


156  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

ton  is  the  goldfinch,  or  yellowbird.  Nests  late 
in  August  are  the  rule,  and  I  have  found  fresh 
eggs  during  the  first  week  in  September  and 
young  ones  just  ready  to  leave  the  nest  on  the 
20th  of  that  month.  So  that  while  doubtless 
the  great  wave  of  reproduction  in  bird  life,  which 
we  call  the  breeding  season,  does  occur  in  May 
and  June,  more  than  half  the  year  is  occupied  by 
various  species  of  birds  in  breeding  near  New 
York.  Really  but  four  months  are  without  nest- 
ing birds.  The  farther  north  one  goes  the  shorter 
is  the  breeding  time,  and  the  reason  is  evident. 
As  the  equator  is  approached  the  reverse  is  true. 
It  is  only  necessary  to  stay  a  short  time  in  Florida 
to  become  aware  that  there  is  no  definite  season 
associated  with  the  time  of  reproduction.  After 
some  twelve  different  winters  and  a  consecutive 
period  of  eighteen  months  spent  in  the  state,  I 
feel  warranted  in  saying  that  it  is  possible  to  find 
birds  nesting  during  every  month  of  the  year. 

The  fish  crow  was  a  common  bird  observed 
in  large  flocks  all  about  the  region  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Withlacoochee  River.  The  fruit  of  the  cab- 
bage palmetto  attracted  them  in  enormous  num- 
bers, and  great  bands  of  these  miniatures  of  the 
crow  of  the  North,  a  hundred  and  even  more 
together,  made  a  very  gay  scene  as  they  de- 
scended on  the  palms  and  with  much  vociferation 
and  crow  gabble  proceeded  to  enjoy  themselves. 


FLORIDA:  THE    GULF   COAST  157 

Here,  too,  were  countless  numbers  of  the  so-called 
shore-birds  passing  the  winter  season  after  the 
long  journey  from  their  northern  breeding  grounds. 
Long-billed  curlews,  marble  godwits,  willets,  both 
kinds  of  dowitcher,  turnstones,  oyster-catchers, 
black-bellied  plovers,  ring-necked  plovers,  piping 
plovers,  least  sandpipers,  semipalmated  sandpipers, 
dunlins,  and  sanderlings,  formed  a  heterogene- 
ous company.  At  low  tide,  with  the  exposure 
of  the  oyster  bars  and  sand  beaches,  they  were 
scattered  over  large  areas,  but  even  then  their 
number  was  evident.  At  high  tide,  when  they 
resorted  to  such  small  spaces  as  the  water  left  un- 
covered, they  were  crowded  so  close  in  masses  as 
fairly  to  touch  one  another.  At  midday  under 
these  conditions  such  flocks  presented  a  novel 
sight.  Approached  quietly  in  a  boat  all  might 
be  seen  in  repose.  The  greater  number  were  fast 
asleep,  many  with  heads  beneath  their  wings. 
When  within  twenty  yards  some  of  the  more 
wakeful  uttered  a  low  series  of  gurgling,  warning 
cries.  Presently  there  was  much  stretching  of 
necks  and  legs  and  preliminary  shakings  of  wings, 
followed  by  a  vast  flight  of  birds  as  the  boat  al- 
most touched  the  reef  on  which  they  had  been 
resting. 

I  must  not  forget  to  mention  the  abundance 
of  small  birds;  marsh-wrens,  seaside  and  sharp- 
tailed  finches  were  present  wherever  the  sedge- 


158  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

grasses  grew,  localities  that  were  also  frequented 
by  large  salt-water  rails.  Our  island,  small  as  it 
was,  had  its  pair  of  mocking-birds.  Great  num- 
bers of  boat-tailed  grackles  and  red- winged  black- 
birds as  well  as  the  crow  blackbirds  were  present 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  shore,  and  might  often  be 
seen  feeding  on  the  beaches  and  oyster  bars  ex- 
posed by  the  receding  tide.  Cardinals  and  chee- 
winks,  bluebirds,  titmice,  and  nuthatches  thronged 
in  the  pine  woods,  especially  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
bay-heads.  Golden-crowned  and  water  thrushes 
were  uncommon.  Piney-wood  and  yellow-winged 
sparrows  were  abundant  in  the  undergrowth  of 
the  pine  forests,  and  once  I  detected  Henslow's 
bunting. 

Here,  too,  the  trees  were  frequented  by  many 
woodpeckers.  Florida  is  particularly  rich  in  these 
birds.  The  red-cockaded,  red-bellied,  downy, 
hairy,  and  red-headed,  as  well  as  pileated  wood- 
peckers and  flickers  were  to  be  seen  in  great 
numbers  at  almost  any  time,  and  the  ivory-bill 
was  by  no  means  rare. 

About  the  shores  herons  strode  with  much 
deliberation  and  dignity.  The  larger  sorts,  were 
solitary  in  habit;  the  smaller  varieties  were  not 
only  gregarious,  but  the  band  was  often  composed 
of  the  several  different  forms  found  here.  When 
feeding,  these  parties  were  frequently  accompa- 
nied by  flocks  of  ducks,  who  swam  in  the  shallow 


FLORIDA :  THE   GULF   COAST  159 

waters  where  the  herons  waded,  and  kept  just 
behind,  but  followed  close. 

Here  the  swallows  surely  did  not  hibernate. 
Four  kinds  were  present  in  numbers.  Tree  and 
barn  swallows  were  perhaps  the  more  frequent, 
but  the  purple  martin  and  bank  swallow  were 
constantly  seen.  Over  the  golden  waterways 
they  flew  and  dipped  with  no  seeming  thought  of 
retreat  to  the  shelter  of  the  ooze  at  the  bottom  of 
ice-covered  ponds  in  the  North. 

Late  fall  in  Florida  has  a  prolonged  period  of 
Indian  summer.  Day  after  day  may  be  described 
as  "  golden."  The  waters  of  the  Gulf  lie  unrip- 
pled  by  a  breeze,  the  sunsets  are  unmarked  by 
clouds.  In  the  late  afternoon,  as  the  red  orb 
dipped  into  the  Gulf  on  the  western  horizon,  oc- 
curred a  remarkable  phenomenon.  The  stillness 
and  the  light  and  color  on  the  water  seemed  in 
accord  with  the  placid  mood  of  the  sea  and  air. 
Then,  seemingly,  far  out  in  the  west,  from  the 
place  "  where  the  sun  went  down,"  came  a  strange 
medley  of  sound.  The  puffing  of  schools  of  por- 
poises, the  rush  of  the  leviathan  in  pursuit  of  his 
finny  prey,  was  mingled  with  the  weird  laugh  of 
loons,  the  gabble  of  hosts  of  gulls,  and  sometimes 
the  shrill  cry  of  a  single  tern ;  the  splash  of  the 
brown  pelican  as  he  struck  the  water,  and  count- 
less unknown  sounds  and  noises  that  seemed  to 
come  from  a  given  point,  together  produced  the 


160  THE   STORY   OF   A  BIRD   LOVER 

impression  of  a  vast  commotion  created  by  myriads 
of  living  creatures.  Added  to  the  whole  was  an 
air  of  mystery  that  was  one  of  its  charms.  Again 
and  again  we  rowed  in  a  boat  toward  the  setting 
sun  far  out  into  the  Gulf  to  discover,  if  we  could, 
the  beginning  of  this  chaos  of  sound,  to  find  the 
outposts  of  the  throng  who  joined  in  such  a 
chorus.  These  excursions  were  futile;  the  far- 
ther we  went,  so  far  the  aggregate  of  noise  trav- 
elled beyond  us.  The  mystery  was  always  just 
under  the  setting  sun  ! 

The  town  of  Cedar  Keys  was  some  thirty  miles 
to  the  north  of  us  on  the  Gulf,  and  at  this  time 
and  for  years  before  this  port  had  been  the  scene 
of  great  commercial  activity,  based  almost  en- 
tirely on  the  exportation  of  cedar  logs,  the  wood 
of  which  was  used  in  the  manufacture  of  lead  pen- 
cils. The  Fabers  and  all  the  great  foreign  and 
American  houses  had  agents  at  Cedar  Keys, 
and  thither  were  taken  for  reshipment  the  cargoes 
of  cedar  logs  collected  from  the  swamps  of  the 
adjacent  Gulf  Coast. 

The  poor  whites  of  this  region  presented  many 
curious  and  unaccountable  phases  of  ignorance. 
Shortly  after  my  arrival  I  offered  a  stipulated 
price  for  certain  birds  such  as  the  ivory-billed 
woodpecker,  and  at  first  I  obtained  some  speci- 
mens, but  later  such  people  as  I  could  get  to  do 
this  sort  of  thing  for  me  refused,  or  excused  them- 


FLORIDA :  THE   GULF   COAST  161 

selves  from  undertaking  it;  generally  the  latter. 
One  day  one  of  them,  more  frank  than  the  rest, 
told  me  that  it  had  become  common  gossip  that 
I  was  not  paying  a  fair  market  price  for  birds, 
especially  the  ivory-bills ;  that  I  took  them  North 
and  sold  the  ivory  of  which  the  bill  was  composed 
for  fabulous  prices,  and  was  simply  playing  on 
the  credulity  of  the  people  whom  I  paid  a  small 
price  for  obtaining  them. 

Before  passing  on  to  other  matters  I  must  delay 
for  a  moment  to  dwell  on  the  ethnological  work 
I  had  undertaken  for  Mr.  Douglass.  Very  soon 
after  my  arrival  I  made  inquiries  as  to  the  loca- 
tion of  the  "  Indian  Mounds,"  as  they  were  called, 
and  found  several  were  near  at  hand.  One  of 
these  was  about  three  miles  from  the  mouth  of 
the  river  on  the  bank,  and  I  determined  to  make 
a  detailed  investigation  of  part  of  it  at  least. 
For  two  days  of  each  week  during  the  stay  at 
Gigger's  Island,  Mr.  Devereux  and  I  worked  in 
excavating  and  removing  the  sand,  beginning  at 
one  end  of  this  mound.  We  procured  an  admira- 
ble series  of  crania,  many  interesting  fragments 
of  pottery,  and  some  vessels  and  dishes  almost 
entire,  as  well  as  bone  and  flint  implements  in 
considerable  numbers.  These  were  all  ultimately 
shipped  to  Mr.  Douglass  and  became  part  of  his 
admirable  collection  which  he  finally  presented  to 
the  American  Museum  in  Central  Park. 


162  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

This  ethnological  work  and  zoological  collect- 
ing occupied  us  constantly  until  the  third  week 
in  January,  when  I  determined,  for  various  reasons, 
to  proceed  farther  southward.  There  are  a  num- 
ber of  events  connected  with  my  work  and  resi- 
dence here  that  I  have  not  recorded,  such  as  the 
collecting  of  porpoises  for  their  skeletons,  and  the 
search  for  the  absolute  mouth  of  the  river,  many 
fishing  parties,  and  constant  trips  to  procure  sup- 
plies of  fresh  water,  for  it  did  not  rain  during  the 
time  we  were  on  this  island.  Almost  every  day 
was  cloudless,  the  cycles  of  sunshine  were  contin- 
uous. 

Chartering  a  small  schooner  at  Cedar  Keys, 
whose  skipper  was  familiar  with  the  little  towns 
and  settlements  of  the  Gulf  Coast,  all  the  col- 
lections and  impedimenta  were  duly  loaded,  a 
most  heterogeneous  cargo.  Everything  being 
ready,  one  morning  we  sailed  away  southward. 
The  collections  were  stored  below,  taking  most 
of  the  available  space.  Cots,  tents,  rocking-chairs, 
and  kitchen  utensils  littered  the  deck,  which  so 
loaded  afforded  scant  room  for  the  passengers. 
When  we  reached  the  open  Gulf,  where  the  sea 
was  running,  Mary,  our  faithful  maid  and  friend, 
was  tied  fast  to  the  mast,  that  she  might  not 
roll  over  the  low  bulwarks,  for  in  smoothest 
water  she  was  the  prostrate  victim  of  seasickness. 

Captain  Kanty  dwelt  much  on  the  beauties  of 


FLORIDA:  THE   GULF   COAST  163 

a  place  he  called  Clearwater  Harbor.  He  said 
that  doubtless  I  could  find  some  one  there  from 
whom  I  could  rent  a  house.  He  spoke  especially 
of  a  certain  Dr.  Powledge,  who  seemed,  from  the 
captain's  account,  to  be  a  person  of  importance. 
All  this  occurred  during  our  first  day's  sailing,  and 
as  there  did  not  seem  to  be  anything  to  attract  par- 
ticular attention  in  the  region  we  passed,  I  deter- 
mined to  go  at  least  another  day's  journey  toward 
the  South.  That  night  we  anchored  near  some 
little  islands,  and  were  underway  again  early  next 
morning. 

The  first  day's  sailing  had  been  in  the  open 
sea ;  now  a  chain  of  islands,  one  after  another, 
resembling  those  on  the  Jersey  coast,  separated  the 
Gulf  from  spacious  and  sheltered  bays,  through 
which  we  passed.  These  bays  are  entered  by 
passes  and  inlets  similar  in  character  to  the 
inlets  of  the  Atlantic  coast,  —  Barnegat,  Egg 
Harbor,  and  the  like,  —  but  of  course  smaller. 
One  of  these  sheets  of  water  is  known  as 
Clearwater  Harbor,  and  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
second  day  we  came  in  sight  of  a  dock  extend- 
ing some  three  hundred  and  fifty  feet  out  into  the 
bay,  which  Captain  Kanty  informed  me  was  the 
wharf  of  Deacon  Powledge 's  warehouse;  for  by 
this  time  he  was  calling  the  proprietor  indiffer- 
ently "  Deacon  "  or  "  Doctor  "  Powledge,  as  occa- 
sion seemed  to  suit.  Anchoring  a  little  way  out, 


1 64  THE   STORY  OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

the  captain,  Mrs.  Scott,  and  I  went  ashore  in  a 
small  boat. 

I  wish  it  were  in  my  power  adequately  to  de- 
scribe the  primitive  and  remote  conditions  of  this 
whole  country.  From  the  hour  we  left  Gigger's 
Island  until  we  reached  Clearwater  we  saw  no 
one :  no  man,  no  boat,  no  house,  and  yet  we  were 
sailing  all  the  time  within  a  couple  of  miles  of  the 
shore,  passing  what  appeared  to  be  an  unbroken, 
primeval  forest,  an  uninhabited  wilderness. 

On  landing,  after  some  inquiry  at  the  house, 
I  found  that  the  deacon  was  in  his  orange-grove, 
where  I  proceeded  to  join  him,  leaving  Mrs. 
Scott  to  be  entertained  by  Mrs.  Powledge.  Dr. 
Powledge  was  a  man  at  that  time  about  seventy 
years  old.  He  was  tall  and  slender,  of  nervous 
build,  but  slow  and  deliberate  in  motion  and 
utterance.  He  greeted  me  with,  "  How  d'ye  do, 
suh  ?  Air  ye  healthy  ? "  I  explained  to  him  as 
we  walked  back  what  I  wanted ;  to  all  of  which 
he  listened  with  apparent  interest,  but  without 
any  comment.  On  entering  the  house,  I  pre- 
sented him  to  Mrs.  Scott,  and  again,  "  How 
d'ye  do,  marm  ?  Air  ye  healthy  ?  "  was  his  greet- 
ing. I  have  forgotten  about  his  inquiries  as  to 
the  state  of  the  world  in  general ;  they  were  not 
many,  for  he  was  a  reticent  man ;  and  after  some 
ten  or  fifteen  minutes  chat  I  again  asked  him 
whether  he  thought  it  would  be  possible  to  arrange 


FLORIDA:  THE   GULF   COAST  165 

to  rent  me  a  small  house  which  stood  near  the 
water,  as  well  as  a  room  in  his  warehouse  for  a 
laboratory.  He  responded  to  this  by  asking  how 
much  rent  I  had  paid  at  Gigger's.  Then  he  spoke 
of  a  mythical  owner  whom  he  would  have  to 
see.  When  my  patience  was  about  to  give  out,  he 
began  a  discourse  much  as  follows.  His  utter- 
ance was  abrupt  and  direct,  but  slow  and  nasal, 
the  words  pronounced  in  a  drawling  fashion  and 
the  vowels  flatted. 

"  Scaat,  I  think  ye  a  good  man.  I'm  a  man 
o'  peace ;  an'  I'm  the  honestest  man  in  the  world. 
I'm  a  doctor  of  medicine  and  doctor  of  divinity, 
and  I'm  a  man  o'  peace.  I  think  ye  a  good  man. 
Scaat,  but  I  cain't  tell.  You  all  might  be  a  drink- 
in',  gamblin',  carousin',  dancin'  man,  and  I  tell 
ye,  I'm  a  man  o'  peace.  I'm  a  man  o'  peace,  but 
if  ye  trod  on  m'  toes,  I'd  fight  like  a  dawg." 
All  of  which  seemed  to  indicate  that  further 
negotiations  as  to  residence  in  that  immediate 
vicinity  were  out  of  the  question.  I  therefore 
announced  to  him  that  I  would  return  to  my  boat, 
thanked  him  for  his  consideration,  told  him  I  was 
interested  in  his  place,  and  thought  I  could  have 
achieved  results  that  would  have  been  good  for 
both  of  us,  bade  him  good-by,  and  proceeded 
out  through  the  warehouse  to  the  long  wharf, 
and  at  the  end  of  it  embarked  and  pushed  off 
to  the  schooner.  I  had  intimated  to  the  doctor 


1 66  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

just  before  parting,  that  I  had  heard  of  a  certain 
Parson  Kilgore  who  resided  some  miles  below, 
and  asked  whether  he  knew  if  I  could  get 
quarters  there.  He  thought  I  probably  could, 
but  I  saw  that  my  reference  to  Parson  Kilgore 
somewhat  nettled  the  old  gentleman.  As  we 
pushed  off  from  the  dock  to  go  out  to  the  schooner, 
it  was  almost  dark,  not  more  than  half  an  hour 
or  so  of  daylight  remaining.  We  had  perhaps 
proceeded  some  twenty  feet,  when  there  was  a 
hail  from  the  door  of  the  warehouse,  and  the 
high,  strident,  nasal  tones  of  the  patriarch  sounded 
across  the  water,  shouting,  "  S-a-ay,  Scaat,  you-all 
kin  hev  th'  house."  So  we  returned  and  con- 
cluded the  bargain. 

The  next  morning  we  brought  ashore  all  our 
various  belongings.  Again  we  set  up  our  camp, 
this  time  in  the  shade  of  a  banana  patch,  fronting 
an  orange-grove  of  many  acres,  in  which  grew  the 
choice  varieties  that  are  produced  by  the  soil  of 
a  shell  hammock.  Here  sang  by  day  and  night 
the  tireless  mocking-bird,  and  here  the  great 
Carolina  wren  poured  forth  a  flood  of  melody. 

Over  the  walls  of  the  little  house,  climbing  on 
the  stems  of  the  bananas,  tangled  in  every  bush 
and  hiding  every  sharp  angle,  grew  an  irrepressible 
vine.  Its  deep  green  arrow-shaped  leaves  formed 
an  effective  shade  by  day,  and  in  the  dusk  became 
a  background  for  a  blossom  so  pure  in  its  color 


FLORIDA:  THE   GULF   COAST  167 

and  subtle  in  its  fragrance  as  to  seem  a  marvel. 
Well  is  it  named  the  moon-flower,  adding  to  the 
glamour  of  the  silvery  night.  Then  it  was  un- 
known to  gardeners.  We  brought  back  seeds 
to  plant  in  our  northern  home,  and  here  its 
queenly  beauty  reminded  us,  for  successive  sea- 
sons, of  southern  shores. 

Fig  bushes  screened  the  grove  on  the  west 
from  the  winds  of  the  Gulf,  and  afforded  us  an 
abundance  of  their  delicious  fruit.  The  sour  or 
Seville  orange  was  indigenous,  and  in  such  quan- 
tities that  a  large  store  of  marmalade  was  made 
in  our  tiny  kitchen,  and  proved  an  acceptable 
gift  to  northern  friends.  We  were  less  isolated 
than  at  Halcyon  Island.  Cracker  and  conch 
families  dwelt  about  in  the  "piney  woods,"  and 
occasionally  a  cracker  lady  came  to  call  on  Mrs. 
Scott.  The  turkey  red  that  covered  the  rough 
walls  of  our  sitting  room,  the  few  Japanese  prints 
and  scrolls,  were  of  vast  interest;  and  it  was 
pathetic  to  watch  the  women  as  they  touched 
admiringly  our  few  ornaments.  The  dust-pan 
was  a  curiosity.  One  dear  old  lady  who  came 
frequently  to  spend  an  afternoon  never  tired  of 
describing  her  first  and  only  journey  by  steamer, — 
from  Savannah  to  Florida.  On  Christmas  Day 
a  dinner  of  ceremony  was  given.  "  An',  Miss 
Scott,  they  took  off  one  table-cloth,  an*  thar  was 
another  table-cloth,  an*  they  took  off  that  table- 


1 68  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

cloth,  an'  thar  was  another  table-cloth."  Then, 
after  enumerating  all  the  viands,  none  of  which 
she  had  forgotten,  she  went  on  to  say,  impressively, 
drawling  out  the  words,  "  An'  then,  Miss  Scott, 
we  had  silly-bubs  an'  silly-bubs."  To  the  poor 
soul  whose  diet  from  year's  end  to  year's  end  was 
hog  and  hominy,  spread  on  a  bare  deal  table,  with 
a  "mess  of  greens"  now  and  again,  one  can 
imagine  the  impression  made  by  the  table-cloths 
and  the  syllabubs. 

Old  Uncle  Tommy  H was  distinguished 

in  that  he  owned  one  book  besides  the  Bible.  It 
was  an  old  copy  of  Thomas  a  Kempis,  which  he 
read  diligently.  To  be  sure  he  was  much  dis- 
turbed one  day  when  Mrs.  Scott  picked  up  the 
volume,  astonished  to  find  him  so  absorbed. 
"  Please  don't  lose  my  place,  mum,"  he  plaintively 
said.  Uncle  Tommy's  visits  were  long  ones,  and 
we  were  sometimes  too  busy  to  devote  ourselves 
to  his  entertainment,  to  reply  to  his  innumerable 
questions.  Mr.  Devereux  went  out  to  meet  and 
head  him  off  early  one  morning,  when  we  were 
all  particularly  busy.  Being  a  bit  of  a  wag,  he 
said,  "Excuse  us,  now,  Uncle  Tommy;  we  are 
having  family  devotions."  At  this  Uncle  Tommy 
hesitated,  and  then  the  interrogatory  came, 
"Wall,  Mr.  Deboro,  who  op-pe-rates  ? " 

So  tame  were  the  wild  turkeys  that  they  fed  in 
the  woods  near  by,  and  once,  in  my  absence,  Mrs. 


FLORIDA:  THE   GULF   COAST  169 

Scott  saw  several  roosting  in  a  tree  that  overhung 
the  house.  Until  they  flew  she  thought  a  neigh- 
bor's turkeys  had  strayed,  then  suddenly  remem- 
bering that  none  were  domesticated  here,  she 
stepped  quickly  inside  for  a  gun,  —  but  the  birds 
were  out  of  sight.  She  has  never  ceased  to 
mourn  the  lost  chance. 

The  country  here  was  very  different  from  that 
we  had  left.  Instead  of  a  low-lying  shore  bounded 
by  great  sedge-grass  swamps,  the  banks  of  the 
mainland  were  abrupt,  and  rose  frequently  to  some 
thirty  or  forty  feet  above  the  level  of  the  adjacent 
waters.  The  pine  woods  reached  almost  to  the 
shore,  except  where  they  were  interrupted  by 
what  were  known  as  "shell  hammocks,"  —  small 
areas  covered  with  palmettos  and  growths  of 
deciduous  trees.  There  were  no  groups  of  tiny 
islands  such  as  characterized  the  Withlacoochee, 
but  a  vast  bay  stretched  up  and  down  the  coast, 
shut  out  from  the  Gulf  by  a  succession  of  long, 
narrow,  low-lying  sand  islands,  whose  outside 
shores  were  the  real  sea  beaches  of  this  part  of 
Florida.  The  water  in  these  bays  was  rarely  more 
than  ten  feet  in  depth,  and  generally  it  was  much 
shoaler.  In  fact,  the  whole  sea  floor  of  this  entire 
region  is  very  flat,  the  four-fathom  line  in  the 
Gulf  as  marked  on  the  coast  charts  being  gen- 
erally out  of  sight  of  land. 

The  water  of  the  bay,  except  during  periods  of 


iyo  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

severe  storm,  was  clear,  and  abounded  in  all  kinds 
of  fish,  as  well  as  in  oysters,  other  kinds  of  shell- 
fish, and  marine  Crustacea.  This  environment 
produced,  of  course,  a  somewhat  specialized  bird 
fauna,  different  from  that  we  had  just  left.  The 
region  was  chiefly  remarkable  for  the  abundance 
of  such  birds  as  herons,  represented  by  a  number 
of  species  and  a  multitude  of  individuals.  Great 
throngs  of  cormorants  and  pelicans  were  also  pres- 
ent, while  the  shore-birds  congregated  chiefly  just 
at  the  mouths  of  the  passes.  This  was  also  true 
of  gulls  and  terns. 

A  bird  of  particular  interest  was  the  reddish 
egret.  It  was  common,  but  only  to  be  found 
in  the  vicinity  of  salt  water.  This  habit  alone 
would  distinguish  it  from  Ward's,  the  little 
blue,  the  Louisiana  heron,  and  the  two  white 
egrets.  All  these  later  birds  frequented  both  salt 
and  fresh  water  with  impartiality.  The  double 
color  phase  of  the  reddish  egret  is  also  note- 
worthy. While  the  dark  phase  prevailed,  pure 
white  individuals  were  not  rare,  and  several  adult 
pied  birds  were  obtained.  Both  phases  of  color 
were  represented  in  the  breeding  colonies,  and 
Mr.  Devereux  obtained  young  from  the  same 
nest,  two  of  which  were  immaculately  white,  the 
other  fledgling  a  typical  dark  bird.  This  egret  in 
white  plumage,  which  does  not  correlate  with  age, 
sex,  or  season,  has  been  described  and  was  for  a 


FLORIDA:  THE   GULF   COAST  171 

long  time  known  as  Peale's  egret.  Besides  the 
ubiquitous  brown  pelican,  large  flocks  of  white 
pelicans  were  frequently  seen.  The  roseate 
spoonbill  was  met  with  almost  daily.  Once  from 
near  at  hand  I  saw  a  flock  alighting  on  a  mud  flat 
exposed  by  the  tide ;  the  birds  must  have  covered, 
as  they  sat  close  together,  upward  of  an  acre  of 
land.  The  rays  of  the  declining  sun  shining  on 
their  beautiful  rose-colored  feathers  reflected  a 
picture  of  wonderful  color,  while  the  spoonbills 
in  their  methods  of  feeding  and  action  were  of 
more  than  ordinary  interest.  One  has  but  to  see 
the  curious  spoon-shaped  bill  of  this  ibis  to 
realize  that  the  bird  is  wholly  unlike  any  of  its 
congeners. 

Now  for  the  first  time  I  observed  the  frigate 
pelican,  the  man-o'-war  bird,  and  was  able  to  form 
impressions  of  my  own  with  regard  to  this  prince 
of  flyers.  The  man-o'-war  is  in  general  color 
black,  and  I  can  liken  him  to  nothing  better  in 
form  than  a  barn-swallow ;  the  same  long,  pointed 
wings,  forked  tail,  short  neck,  and  slim  body  char- 
acterize both.  Imagine,  if  you  please,  a  black 
barn-swallow  stretching  six  feet  from  the  tip  of 
one  wing  to  the  tip  of  the  other,  with  a  forked 
tail  in  proportion,  and  you  will  have  a  very  vivid 
image  of  the  appearance  of  the  man-o'-war  bird  in 
flight.  Here  the  parallel  ends.  For  while  the 
barn-swallows  flit,  glide,  and  skim  over  pond  and 


172  THE   STORY  OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

meadow,  and  seem  among  the  most  accomplished 
and  graceful  of  flyers,  this  huge  bird  performs  all 
these  evolutions,  and  in  addition  possesses  powers 
of  soaring  that  are  rivalled  only  by  the  albatross. 
While  floating  high  overhead,  with  long,  forked 
tail  and  slim,  expanded  wings  silhouetted  against 
the  sky,  sometimes  almost  motionless  and  again 
drifting  with  the  varying  air  currents,  the  bird  has 
often  appeared  to  me  like  a  human  being  endowed 
with  miraculous  power.  At  close  range,  and  when 
in  active  flight,  besides  the  swallow-like  evolutions 
suggested,  other  remarkable  manoeuvres  are  fre- 
quent. I  have  often  seen  the  man-o'-war  pause 
for  an  instant  in  mid-air  and  scratch  the  side  of 
his  face  or  top  of  his  head  with  his  foot ;  the  per- 
formance, too,  was  heightened  by  the  extreme 
deliberation  of  the  accompanying  motion.  Not 
only  do  these  birds  fly  well  and  soar  at  great 
heights,  but  they  possess  the  power  of  prolonged 
and  sustained  travel.  Often  they  are  encountered 
far  at  sea,  and  stories  of  their  accompanying  ves- 
sels for  extended  distances  are  current. 

In  habits  the  birds  are  parasitic  ;  that  is,  their 
food  is  usually  obtained  after  it  has  been  caught 
by  some  other  kind  of  bird  ;  at  Clearwater  and  to 
the  south,  the  brown  pelican  is  the  constant  and 
almost  the  sole  victim. 

The  bald  eagles  were  even  more  abundant  at 
Clearwater  than  they  had  been  at  Gigger's.  There 


FLORIDA:  THE   GULF   COAST  173 

were  eight  nests  within  half  a  mile  of  the  wharf, 
and  two  were  close  at  hand. 

The  beaches  of  these  interior  bays  are  pebbly 
at  points,  sandy  at  others,  and  again  muddy.  Here 
Wilson's  plover,  a  resident  bird,  found  congenial 
feeding  and  nesting  ground.  This  small  plover 
is  somewhat  larger  than  the  ring-necked  plover, 
and  of  heavier  and  stouter  build,  with  a  longer 
and  stronger  bill.  The  sexes  are  readily  distin- 
guished by  the  difference  in  color  of  the  band 
across  the  breast.  The  willet  was  also  one  of 
the  commonest  of  the  shore-birds,  and  bred  in 
great  quantities  at  points  not  far  distant,  notably 
in  Old  Tampa  Bay.  In  this  vicinity  I  saw  for  the 
first  time  the  great  salt-water  rookeries  of  herons, 
pelicans,  and  cormorants  that  once  were  common 
along  the  entire  Gulf  Coast  of  Florida,  but  which 
the  persistent  persecution  of  plume  hunters  and 
so-called  sportsmen  has  almost  eliminated.  Some 
of  these  breeding  places  were  of  vast  extent; 
one  at  the  mouth  of  Tampa  Bay,  known  as  the 
"  Maximo  Rookery,"  occupied  an  island  of  over  five 
hundred  acres.  This  island  was  thickly  covered 
by  a  growth  of  black  mangrove  trees  which  stood 
so  close  that  their  outstretched  limbs  were  in- 
terwoven, and  nearly  every  tree  at  certain  seasons 
of  the  year  afforded  a  site  for  from  five  to  a 
dozen  nests  of  herons. 

The  birds  that  bred  here  were  Ward's  heron, 


174  THE  STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

the  little  blue  heron,  the  Louisiana  heron,  the 
reddish  egret,  the  great  white  egret,  and  the 
snowy  egret.  Conceive,  if  possible,  this  vast 
assembly  of  harmless,  gentle,  conspicuous,  and 
beautiful  birds  during  the  breeding  season.  Re- 
call the  description  I  have  given  of  the  breeding 
site  of  similar  birds  on  the  shore  of  Panasofkee 
Lake.  Magnify  such  a  description  tenfold,  and 
the  result  is  much  less  than  the  reality.  It  was  a 
colony  of  birds  that  the  eye  could  not  take  in  at 
a  single  sweep.  In  the  landscape  the  feathered 
population  was  the  predominant  feature.  All 
this  could  be  seen  but  little  more  than  twenty 
years  ago ;  all  of  it  was  destroyed  during  the  next 
six  or  seven  years. 

We  guard  with  care  and  highly  prize  our  great 
libraries  and  art  collections.  We  go  to  the  extent 
of  keeping  the  rare  books,  pictures,  and  objects 
of  art  away  from  the  touch  of  the  general  pub- 
lic. Here,  out  of  doors,  was  one  of  the  treas- 
ures of  nature ;  a  thing  of  beauty  and  priceless 
value ;  a  never  ceasing  panorama  of  action  sug- 
gesting emotions  of  a  profound  nature  —  all  this 
was  wantonly  destroyed.  I  trust  that  the  time 
will  come  when  civilization  will  appreciate  as 
fully  the  treasures  of  nature  as  they  do  the 
treasures  of  art.  There  is  only  one  Venus 
de  Milo ;  there  was  but  a  single  great  bird 
island,  at  the  mouth  of  Tampa  Bay;  it  had  no 


FLORIDA:   THE   GULF   COAST  175 

duplicate.  The  statue  has  been  carefully  guarded ; 
valued  as  a  standard  of  beauty,  it  is  viewed  by 
students  and  masters  from  every  part  of  the  world. 
The  other,  with  all  its  complicated  educational 
elements  of  which  beauty  was  not  the  least,  has 
been  destroyed,  cannot  be  restored,  and  is  only 
known  by  tradition. 

At  Clearwater  much  of  our  exploration  was 
accomplished  by  water,  and  here  to  this  end  the 
"  Bandersnatch "  was  utilized  to  the  wonder  of 
the  natives.  Our  aquatic  pursuits  were  a  source 
of  concern  to  our  landlord,  and  he  constantly 
cautioned  me  that  we  were  taking  our  lives  in 
our  hands.  One  day  when  about  to  embark,  to 
allay  his  anxiety  I  assured  him  that  I  was  a  fairly 
good  swimmer,  and,  moreover,  that  in  most  places, 
even  if  we  had  to  desert  the  boat,  it  would  be 
possible  to  walk  ashore.  But  he  shook  his  head 
and  would  not  be  convinced,  and  finally  confided 
to  me  that  he  had  always  preferred  to  travel  by 
land.  He  had  come  from  Georgia  directly  after 
the  war,  to  establish  himself  in  Florida,  and  had 
moved  all  such  property  as  he  possessed  by  teams 
and  wagons.  He  informed  me  he  had  never 
crossed  to  the  outside  islands ;  that  he  considered 
it  a  very  dangerous  undertaking,  and  wound  up 
by  saying  to  me:  — 

"  Waal,  Scaat,  you-all  and  Mr.  Debil  may  be 
web-footed,  but  I'm  a  high  Ian*  chickin." 


1 76  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

Here  I  was  much  more  fortunate  than  at  Withla- 
coochee  in  obtaining  sympathy  and  assistance 
from  the  natives  of  the  region.  The  conchs  par- 
ticularly proved  efficient  as  guides  and  hunters. 
Two  members  of  one  family  were  in  my  con- 
stant employ,  and  were  known  respectively  as  the 
"  high  conch  with  the  red  beard,"  and  the  "  little 
low  chunky  conch."  The  name  "  conch  "  is  given 
to  natives  of  the  Bahama  Islands  or  the  Florida 
Keys.  They  are  so  called  because  of  their  alleged 
use  of  the  conch  as  food. 

Dr.  Powledge  not  only  ministered  to  the 
spiritual  and  temporal  needs  of  his  neighbors  in 
his  capacity  as  deacon  and  physician,  but  had 
also  the  only  store  of  the  region.  Everything 
could  be  purchased,  from  gunpowder  to  furni- 
ture, from  medicine  to  musical  instruments,  from 
clothes  to  Bibles. 

In  my  traffic  with  the  hunters  who  brought  me 
various  specimens  of  birds  for  my  collection,  the 
prices  paid  were  insignificant,  fifteen  cents  being 
perhaps  the  maximum.  In  the  course  of  a  few 
weeks  I  may  have  spent  a  sum  in  small  coin 
aggregating  some  twenty  dollars.  This  all  went 
back  into  the  till  of  the  good  deacon,  who,  in  his 
turn,  would  cash  a  check  for  me,  or  change  a  bill 
into  the  dimes  and  nickels  which  furnished  the 
medium  of  barter,  and  the  "  endless  chain  "  was 
maintained  throughout  my  visit.  On  my  de- 


FLORIDA:  THE    GULF   COAST  177 

parture  the  doctor  again  informed  me,  as  he  had 
frequently  done :  — • 

"Scaat,  I'm  the  honestest  man  in  the  world, 
but  I  reckon  you-all  air  pretty  honest,  too;  and 
you-all  air  the  richest  man  that  ever  came  here. 
You-all  brought  more  ready  money  and  cirkilated 
it  here  than  any  one  that  ever  came." 

When  I  say  that  my  total  expenditure  in  cash 
at  Clearwater  was  a  sum  less  than  two  hundred 
dollars,  the  reader  can  get  an  idea  of  the  financial 
conditions  of  this  part  of  Florida  at  that  time. 
Nearly  everything  in  the  way  of  trade  was  done 
by  barter,  and  ready  money  had  a  great  purchasing 
value.  We  were  supplied  by  the  natives  with 
oranges,  oysters,  and  other  kinds  of  provisions 
for  the  household.  The  finest  oranges  were 
worth  from  fifty  to  seventy-five  cents  per  hun- 
dred, and  the  best  oysters  were  brought  to  the 
dock  and  planted  in  the  water,  where  we  could 
readily  get  them,  for  sixty  cents  a  barrel. 

The  doctor's  ideas  of  the  outside  world  were 
often  peculiar.  For  instance,  I  remember  one 
day  talking  to  him  of  the  national  debt,  which 
grew  out  of  a  discussion  of  some  problems  re- 
sulting from  the  Civil  War.  This  debt  was  then 
being  paid  off  at  the  rate  of  from  twelve  to  fifteen 
million  dollars  per  month,  and  I  mentioned  it  as 
an  indication  of  the  prosperity  of  the  country. 
His  notion  was  different.  He  said:  — 


178  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD  LOVER 

"  Why,  Scaat,  you-all  don't  know  nuthin'  'bout 
it.  All  them  ther  fellers  in  Washington  dew  is 
to  run  a  printin'  press,  an'  they  kin  jest  as  well 
print  a  hundred  million  as  twenty  million  dollars 
a  month.  I  don't  see  why  they  don't  pay  off  the 
whole  debt  in  one  printin';  coz  they  could  easy 
enuf." 

We  remained  in  Clearwater  until  some  time 
late  in  March,  and  left  the  place  and  the  friends 
we  had  made  with  regret.  Mr.  Devereux,  my 
assistant,  stayed  in  the  interests  of  the  museum 
some  two  months  longer.  The  result  of  our 
mutual  work  during  that  winter  is  set  forth  in 
detail  in  a  paper  cited  in  the  bibliography. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE    SEA    AND   THE    DESERT 

THE  next  year  I  was  constantly  in  Princeton, 
confined  closely  to  the  work  of  extending  the 
growth  of  the  museum.  This  had  now  assumed 
such  proportion  that  it  was  essential  to  have  some 
one  working  continually  at  the  collections,  keep- 
ing them  in  repair  and  adding  to  the  exhibits 
material  that  had  been  accumulated  from  the 
several  expeditions. 

In  the  spring  of  1881,  having  all  the  museum 
matters  well  in  hand,  I  made  an  expedition  to 
Cobb's  Island  on  the  coast  of  Virginia.  Just 
north  of  the  capes  of  the  Chesapeake,  the  eastern 
shore  of  Virginia  is  protected  by  low,  outlying 
sand  islands  not  unlike  those  found  at  various 
points  on  the  coast  of  New  Jersey.  Some  of 
these,  notably  Hog  Island,  are  inhabited,  and 
Cobb's  Island  at  this  time  afforded  residence  for 
a  family  of  settlers  by  the  name  of  Cobb,  who  had 
lived  there  many  years,  maintaining  a  house  of 
entertainment  for  sportsmen.  As  a  sportsmen's 
resort  it  was  noted.  The  adjacent  waters  and 
marshes  teemed  with  bird  life,  the  fishing  was 

179 


i8o  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

excellent,  and  the  many  waterways  afforded  fine 
opportunity  for  boating. 

The  bay-birds  migrating  along  the  coast  in  the 
spring  and  fall  found  at  Cobb's  Island  plentiful 
supplies  of  food.  This  and  other  local  conditions 
attracted  them  in  vast  numbers.  The  usual  group 
associated  with  the  sea  beaches  and  marshes  of  the 
Atlantic  coast  were  represented,  and  there  was 
little  difference  in  kind  as  compared  with  Barnegat. 
The  numbers  of  the  greater  and  lesser  yellow- 
legs,  the  Hudsonian  curlew,  the  dowitcher,  the 
jacksnipe  or  creeker,  the  robin  snipe,  the  willet, 
the  black-bellied  and  golden  plovers,  not  to  men- 
tion innumerable  representatives  of  least  and  semi- 
palmated  sandpipers,  were  striking.  The  marshes 
sheltered  quantities  of  clapper-rail,  while  the 
beaches  on  the  surf  side  were  patrolled  by  many 
piping,  ring-necked,  and  Wilson's  plovers,  as  well 
as  hosts  of  sanderlings  and  dunlins.  Wilson's 
plover,  unlike  the  others,  bred  here  in  the  rough 
shingle,  not  far  above  high-water  mark,  and  willets 
were  equally  plenty,  breeding  in  the  marshes. 

It  was  the  great  number  of  different  kinds  of 
gulls  and  terns  that  had  attracted  me  to  this 
point.  Here  vast  colonies  of  them  found  breed- 
ing ground.  It  is  difficult  to  say  which  kind  were 
more  numerous  ;  there  were  myriads  of  all.  The 
laughing  gull  was  the  only  true  gull  breeding,  but 
when  I  first  arrived  at  Cobb's  Island,  Bonaparte 


THE   SEA  AND  THE   DESERT  181 

gulls,  ring-billed  and  herring  gulls  were  passing 
to  their  more  northern  home.  The  outer  beaches 
were  the  resort,  not  only  of  many  terns,  but  there 
too  came  oyster-catchers,  which  bred  in  the  sand 
dunes  just  back  of  the  beach,  and  whose  nests 
were  readily  discovered  by  the  regular  trail  the 
birds  made  in  their  frequent  journeys  to  the 
ocean's  edge. 

Among  the  terns  breeding  were  the  gull-billed 
tern,  Foster's  tern,  the  common  tern,  the  least 
tern,  the  royal  tern,  and  the  black  skimmer.  Now 
and  then  one  met  with  representatives  of  the  sand- 
wich tern,  and  at  least  a  dozen  pair  of  Caspian 
terns  nested  each  season.  The  breeding  colo- 
nies of  the  several  sorts  were  clearly  defined,  the 
different  kinds  not  associating  together  to  any 
extent. 

My  purpose  in  coming  here  was  not  only  to 
make  adequate  collections  of  the  eggs  and  adult 
birds,  but  more  especially  to  procure  large  series 
of  the  fledglings  in  various  stages  of  their  early 
life.  In  this  work,  thanks  to  a  good  assistant,  I 
was  eminently  successful. 

My  dog  Grouse,  who  was  with  me,  aided 
largely,  finding  numbers  of  nests  and  young  birds 
that  would  otherwise  have  been  overlooked. 
Posted  just  outside  of  some  piece  of  sedge-grass, 
I  had  only  to  command  him  to  go  in  and  fetch 
out  young  birds.  He  did  this  kind  of  work  with- 


182  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

out  reluctance  or  demur,  but  on  the  whole  with  a 
deprecatory  air,  appearing  ashamed  of  being  used 
for  the  purpose.  Disappearing  in  the  long  grass, 
in  a  few  moments  he  was  back  with  a  young  gull, 
a  clapper-rail,  or  some  other  downy  chick.  When 
I  took  the  bird  from  him,  it  was  not  only  un- 
harmed and  unruffled,  but  the  delicate  plumage 
was  seldom  even  moistened  by  contact  with  the 
dog's  mouth.  If  I  did  not  care  for  a  specimen,  I 
would  return  it  to  him,  tell  him  to  take  it  back, 
leave  it  where  he  found  it,  and  bring  me  another. 
Off  he  would  go,  and  presently  return  with  a  dif- 
ferent bird.  I  have  seen  dogs  that  would  fetch, 
but  I  have  seen  but  one  or  two  dogs  that  would 
take  things  away  and  return  them  to  the  spot 
whence  they  had  been  brought.  In  the  house, 
Grouse  would  not  only  bring  me  my  slippers,  but 
would  take  away  my  shoes  and  put  them  as  care- 
fully in  the  closet  as  I  could  myself.  He  knew 
just  where  they  belonged,  and  in  what  position 
they  should  stand.  I  fancy  he  was  as  solicitous 
in  returning  the  unharmed  fledglings  to  the  place 
where  he  found  them. 

Cobb's  Island  has  been  largely  decreased  in 
area  by  some  of  the  more  violent  storms  of  the 
last  ten  or  fifteen  years,  and  is  now  comparatively 
small,  whereas  formerly  it  was  some  three  miles 
long.  On  the  bay  side  vast  marshes  extended 
over  hundreds  of  acres.  As  a  breeding  ground 


THE  SEA  AND  THE   DESERT  183 

at  present  it  affords  little  space,  but  such  areas  as 
remain  seem  to  be  quite  sufficient  for  the  birds 
that  resort  there.  Previous  to  the  decrease  in 
the  size  of  the  island,  the  persistent  efforts  of  egg 
hunters  and  gunners  for  millinery  purposes  had 
achieved  the  usual  result ;  what  was  once  one  of 
the  notable  breeding  places  of  gulls  and  terns  has 
long  since  been  wholly  abandoned  by  the  larger 
part  of  them. 

Six  weeks  sufficed  to  start  the  work  that  had 
been  undertaken  here,  and  intrusting  its  comple- 
tion to  an  assistant,  the  rest  of  the  summer  was 
passed  at  Nantucket. 

As  a  result  of  the  work  at  Cobb's  Island,  there 
are  in  the  collections  of  the  Princeton  University 
Museum  a  series  of  all  the  kinds  of  terns  and  birds 
that  I  have  mentioned  breeding  at  this  point, 
except  the  sandwich  tern,  which  was  only  a 
casual  bird.  Practically  every  stage  of  growth  is 
represented,  from  the  chick  just  hatched  to  the 
adult.  The  common  tern,  Foster's  tern,  the  royal 
tern,  the  black  skimmer,  the  least  tern,  the 
willet,  the  clapper-rail,  and  the  gull-billed  tern 
are  included  in  the  collections  in  this  way. 

While  at  Nantucket,  a  week  was  spent  in  study- 
ing the  petrels  that  are  present  off  the  coast  of 
Massachusetts  during  the  month  of  August.  To 
observe  these  birds  and  procure  specimens  of  each 
kind  it  was  essential  to  visit  some  of  the  "  banks  " 


184  THE   STORY  OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

where  cod-fishing  was  carried  on.  It  may  be  of 
interest  to  know  something  more  in  detail  of  the 
conditions  that  obtain  in  such  localities.  From 
the  town  of  Chatham  on  Cape  Cod,  in  favorable 
weather  all  through  the  warmer  months  of  the 
year,  a  very  considerable  number  of  fishermen  go 
regularly  to  the  "  banks  "  to  catch  cod,  both  for 
use  as  fresh  fish,  and  when  plentiful  to  manufacture 
into  one  of  the  staples  associated  with  the  New 
England  coast,  salt  codfish. 

The  fishing  is  carried  on  in  large  cat-rigged 
boats  or  sloops,  and  usually  the  fishermen  do  not 
remain  away  over  night,  for  it  is  but  a  couple  of  hours 
run  to  "  the  banks  "  under  favorable  conditions. 
With  a  fisherman  I  left  Chatham  very  early  one 
morning,  and  by  daylight  we  were  far  out  at  sea. 
A  gun  and  ammunition  were  part  of  my  equip- 
ment, and  as  occasional  birds  were  seen  in  the 
distance,  I  thought  it  worth  while  to  begin  my 
preparations.  I  saw  an  amused  look  pass  over 
the  captain's  face  as  he  said  to  me,  "  Better  wait 
till  we  get  where  the  birds  are ;  it  will  be  easier 
to  get  'em."  After  two  hours'  sail  —  we  were 
now  out  of  sight  of  land  —  he  announced  that  we 
had  arrived  at  the  fishing  banks,  and  that  he 
would  make  a  try.  This  seemed  to  be  entirely 
foreign  to  the  work  I  had  come  out  to  do,  but  I 
did  not  interfere.  Without  anchoring  the  boat, 
simply  heaving  to,  he  baited  a  couple  of  codfish 


THE   SEA  AND  THE   DESERT  185 

lines  and  lowering  them  soon  had  two  large  fish 
struggling  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat.  As  he  had 
now  reached  a  desirable  spot  he  anchored,  kept 
on  fishing  for  a  few  minutes,  and  when  some  eight 
or  ten  codfish  were  in  the  boat  he  said  he  would 
show  me  the  birds  that  frequented  the  fishing 
"banks."  He  then  took  the  livers  of  several  of 
the  codfish  and  cut  them  into  very  minute 
pieces ;  grinding  these  into  pulp,  this  "  chum  " 
was  cast  overboard  to  float  on  the  water.  A  long, 
oily  streak  on  the  surface  now  indicated  the  run 
of  the  tide,  and  this  streak  soon  reached  farther 
than  the  eye  could  follow.  When  we  anchored  I 
had  seen  one  or  two  birds  at  a  very  considerable 
distance,  and  now,  following  down  this  oily  streak 
or  lane,  they  began  to  arrive  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
boat,  allured  by  the  bits  of  liver.  Shortly,  birds 
were  about  us  in  countless  numbers.  They  con- 
sisted almost  entirely  of  the  stormy  petrel,  the 
greater  shearwater  and  the  sooty  shearwater,  with 
an  occasional  parasitic  gull.  Before  collecting 
any  specimens,  it  seemed  worth  while  to  examine 
the  birds  with  care,  for  I  feared  that  with  the 
report  of  the  gun  they  would  be  frightened  away. 
So  I  waited  for  a  time.  The  captain  now  took 
a  piece  of  string,  some  seven  or  eight  feet  long, 
fastened  a  large  piece  of  codfish  liver  to  it, 
which  he  tied  on  securely,  and  allowed  it  to  float 
out  at  the  stern  of  the  boat.  I  had  thought  the 


1 86  THE   STORY  OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

birds  were  quite  fearless  from  the  first,  but  was 
not  prepared  to  see  them  come  to  such  close 
quarters.  As  soon  as  they  detected  the  large 
piece  of  liver  tied  to  the  string,  they  thronged 
about  it  like  flies  about  a  lump  of  sugar.  Gradu- 
ally the  cord  was  shortened,  drawing  the  bait 
toward  the  boat,  until  it  was  not  more  than  three 
or  four  feet  from  the  gunwale.  From  the  cabin 
the  skipper  brought  an  ancient  crab-net  with  a 
long  handle,  and  presently  he  was  catching  the 
three  kinds  of  petrels,  much  as  one  catches  butter- 
flies, emptying  his  net  as  he  caught  each  bird 
into  the  cock-pit  of  the  boat.  Here  they  were 
absolutely  helpless,  as  from  such  a  flat  surface  it 
was  quite  impossible  for  this  kind  of  bird  to  rise 
on  the  wing,  and  they  walked  about  much  after 
the  fashion  of  chickens,  and  with  about  as  much 
commotion  as  fowls  make  when  intruded  upon. 
Shortly  all  appeared  to  be  affected  by  the  motion 
of  the  boat  and  began  to  disgorge  what  they  had 
eaten,  and  the  cock-pit  was  now  a  scene  of  filth 
which  can  be  better  imagined  than  described. 

Of  course  it  was  not  necessary  to  use  a  gun. 
We  caught  the  birds,  and  they  were  in  much 
better  shape  than  we  could  have  obtained  them 
by  the  other  method.  We  selected  only  such  as 
seemed  of  particular  value,  allowing  the  rest  to 
go  overboard,  where,  on  reaching  the  top  of  a 
wave,  they  immediately  took  flight. 


THE  SEA  AND  THE   DESERT  187 

Collecting  of  this  kind  seemed  much  like  catch- 
ing butterflies,  and  the  little  stormy  petrels 
hovering  over  the  pieces  of  liver  bore  out  the 
illusion  by  their  motions  as  they  poised  and 
fluttered  about  the  bait.  At  a  single  sweep  of 
the  net  the  captain  took  in  nine  of  these  little 
birds,  which  will  give  an  idea  of  their  abundance. 

The  two  larger  petrels,  and  the  greater  and 
sooty  shearwaters,  are  birds  that  measure  about 
forty  inches  across  the  wings  and  are  larger  than 
a  common  crow.  Their  flight  is  very  swift  and 
their  wings  beat  fast;  but,  nevertheless,  as  one 
would  pause  in  passing  to  attempt  to  grab  the 
lure,  the  captain  would  have  him  in  his  crab-net, 
and  then  the  bird  would  be  on  deck,  fighting  and 
biting  and  trying  to  get  away,  but  unable  to  take 
wing  from  the  flat  surface.  There  were  present 
besides  a  number  of  parasitic  gulls,  which  were 
harassing  the  several  kinds  of  petrels  whenever 
an  opportunity  occurred. 

There  are  some  ten  or  more  representatives 
of  the  family  of  petrels  common  in  the  waters  of 
the  North  Atlantic;  and  several  of  these  breed 
on  islands  such  as  Bird  Rock  of  the  Magdalen 
group,  as  well  as  on  St.  Kilda,  the  Shetlands,  and 
other  islands  in  that  ocean.  But  it  is  not  until 
the  equator  is  passed  and  one  is  well  south  that 
the  variety  and  abundance  of  petrels  become  a 
feature  of  a  sea  journey.  The  most  impressive 


1 88  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

among  these  birds  is  the  great  albatross,  famed 
in  song  and  story,  but  other  members  are  almost 
as  large  in  size,  the  giant  fulmar  and  the  wander- 
ing albatross  being  among  them.  Then  comes  a 
group  which  is  fairly  represented  by  such  birds  as 
the  greater  and  sooty  shearwaters.  Intermediate 
in  size  between  these  birds  and  the  little  black 
petrels  with  the  white  spots  on  their  rumps,  which, 
without  regard  to  specific  difference,  sailors  term 
"  Mother  Carey's  chickens,"  comes  the  Cape 
pigeon.  A  number  of  other  congeners  vary 
slightly  in  size  and  form.  Finally,  there  are  many 
kinds  of  the  small  birds  referred  to  as  "  Mother 
Carey's  chickens,"  and  when  the  antarctic  ice  is 
reached  a  little  snow-white  petrel  is  in  evidence. 

The  petrels  are  the  wanderers  of  the  sea.  No 
point  is  too  distant  from  land  for  their  journeys. 
They  are  equally  at  home  in  calm  and  storm,  and 
seem  only  to  resort  to  unfrequented  islands  or  land 
for  the  purpose  of  breeding.  At'  such  seasons 
they  assemble  at  favorite  localities,  often  in  great 
colonies,  where  some  nest  upon  the  surface,  but 
more  prefer  to  excavate  a  burrow  in  the  ground, 
or  to  retire  into  some  cranny  to  lay  their  eggs. 

On  the  whole,  petrels  may  be  characterized 
as  par  excellence  the  fliers  among  birds.  The 
eagle  and  the  condor  may  be  noticed  frequently 
at  rest,  but  these  Arabs  of  the  sea  seem  ever  on 
the  wing.  The  ocean  waste  is  their  home. 


THE   SEA  AND   THE   DESERT  189 

Presenting  an  antithesis  to  these  birds  is  another 
group  characteristic  of  the  southern  seas,  the  pen- 
guins, birds  without  the  power  of  flight.  Who- 
ever has  been  so  fortunate  as  to  see  them,  not 
on  shore,  but  in  their  own  element,  forms  at 
once  an  entirely  new  conception  of  swimming. 
The  penguins  do  not  swim ;  they  fly  through 
the  water.  For  this  purpose  the  feet  are  not 
used,  and  no  paddling,  or  swimming  in  duck 
fashion  takes  place.  With  their  feet  straight 
behind  them  and  close  together,  used  only  as 
a  rudder,  the  penguins  perform  every  evolution 
(assisted  by  their  transformed  wings,  which  re- 
semble closely  the  flippers  of  the  seal)  that  the 
swallow  performs  over  a  grass  meadow  or  pond, 

The  motion  is  as  rapid,  the  evolutions  are  as 
precise;  the  quick  turning  of  the  birds  flying 
through  the  water  in  pursuit  of  small  fish  can 
only  be  compared  to  the  characteristic  motion  of 
swallows  in  pursuit  of  minute  insect  prey. 

For  those  who  are  unable  to  make  the  long 
journey  necessary  to  see  penguins  in  their  native 
haunts,  most  zoological  gardens  have  glass  tanks, 
often  of  great  size,  in  which  at  stated  times  tiny 
fish  are  liberated.  One  or  two  penguins  are  then 
allowed  to  enter  the  water.  There,  as  in  an 
aquarium,  one  may  see  everything  that  has  been 
described.  Not  the  least  remarkable  fact  is  that 
penguins,  unlike  diving  birds  in  general,  do  not 


i9o  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

rise  to  the  surface  when  they  have  seized  their 
prey;  it  is  eaten  where  it  is  caught,  below  the 
surface  of  the  water,  during  the  continued  flight 
of  the  bird  through  that  element.  The  shores 
of  Patagonia,  Tierra  del  Fuego,  the  islands  of 
the  southern  oceans,  and  parts  of  the  coast  of 
Australia  are  the  homes  of  the  penguin. 

Late  in  the  succeeding  winter  I  made  appli- 
cation to  the  college  authorities  for  a  leave  of 
absence  to  visit  Arizona.  My  reasons  for  going 
to  this  point  were  twofold.  One  was  personal, 
the  other  was  a  wish  to  see  a  country  whose  bird 
life  presented  combinations  of  desert  and  moun- 
tain fauna.  It  was  the  desert  particularly  that 
attracted  me.  I  travelled  west,  passing  through 
southern  Kansas  and  southeastern  Colorado, 
southward  through  the  mountains  of  New  Mexico, 
entering  the  desert  shortly  after  leaving  Deming. 

The  country  presented  a  novel  aspect,  but 
the  picture  of  a  desert  that  my  imagination  had 
painted  was  not  at  all  like  this  reality.  Aridity 
was  the  salient  and  prevailing  character,  but  the 
long,  unbroken  stretches  of  sand,  the  waste,  which 
I  had  imagined  as  having  much  the  aspect  of  a 
desolate  sea,  was  not  here. 

Instead,  a  vast,  flat  plain,  whose  horizon  was 
bounded  by  abrupt  mountain  chains,  extended 
on  every  side.  Distributed  over  the  surface 
were  sparse  growths  of  isolated  trees,  miniature 


THE  SEA   AND   THE   DESERT  igi 

locusts  in  their  general  character.  Among  these 
trees  many  varieties  of  cacti  abounded,  from  the 
round,  globular  ones  known  as  "  nigger  heads,"  to 
the  branching,  brittle,  and  thorny  chollas,  such 
growths  culminating  with  the  vast  and  grotesque 
shapes  of  the  giant  cactus,  sometimes  a  monolith, 
again  a  cross,  and  again  a  huge  candelabra,  with 
every  conceivable  variation  between  the  three 
types.  The  almost  naked  ground  was  scantily 
decked  with  scattered  bunches  of  dried  grass, 
cured  in  the  pure  and  heated  atmosphere  as  it 
stood,  a  mummied  effigy.  Everything,  the  hills 
on  the  horizon,  the  plain  itself,  and  the  ensemble 
of  plant  life,  was  dull  gray  brown  in  tone,  with 
suggestions  of  sombre  yellow  here  and  there  to 
lighten  it.  The  atmosphere  was  singularly  clear 
and  transparent,  the  sky  cold  blue,  and  cloudless. 

I  had  not  pictured  the  waste  of  my  imagination 
with  inhabitants;  birds  and  beasts  were  no  part 
of  the  prospect.  Again  I  was  at  fault.  Nowhere 
have  I  seen  so  varied  and  teeming  an  aggregate 
of  small  birds,  reptiles,  and  insects  as  was  pre- 
sented at  every  turn.  This  was  no  barren,  deso- 
late, or  forbidding  region. 

A  day's  travel  still  disclosed  at  dusk  the  desert 
stretching  away  westward,  when  I  left  the  railway 
at  an  obscure  station.  There  was  no  town ;  the 
building  that  served  the  purpose  of  accommodat- 
ing passengers  and  freight,  and  one  or  two  rude 


i92  THE   STORY   OF   A  BIRD   LOVER 

shanties  clustered  about,  were  the  only  ones  in 
sight  The  journey  from  here  was  made  by 
wagon,  for  my  destination  was  a  point  some 
seventy  miles  away,  known  as  Riverside,  on  the 
Gila  River.  The  first  stage  of  this  ride  ended 
at  a  town  called  Florence,  the  county  seat  of 
Final  County,  situated  on  the  same  river,  and 
some  thirty  miles  from  the  railway. 

After  his  memorable  journey  across  the  southern 
part  of  what  is  now  the  United  States,  Cabe9a  de 
Vaca,  when  he  ultimately  arrived  in  the  city  of 
Mexico,  described  to  the  astonished  Spaniards,  as 
the  consummation  of  all  the  wonders  of  his  pro- 
longed wanderings,  El  Dorado,  a  mighty  city,  the 
roofs  and  walls  of  whose  houses,  seen  by  him 
only  from  a  great  distance,  he  believed  to  be  of 
pure  gold.  Even  at  the  point  from  which  he 
viewed  them,  not  being  allowed  to  go  nearer,  he 
was  impressed,  not  only  with  the  magnificence 
of  the  material,  but  with  the  proportions  of  the 
great  structures.  So  vivid  was  the  picture  he 
painted  and  so  enticing  to  the  cupidity  of  the 
adventurous  followers  of  Cortez  that,  as  is  well 
known,  while  Alvar  Nunez  would  not  consent  to 
lead  them  to  the  place  where  he  had  seen  this 
miracle,  yet  his  only  comrade  in  the  long  journey, 
save  the  natives  who  guided  him,  Esteban  el  Negro, 
undertook  to  pilot  a  band  of  these  indomitable 
discoverers  and  rapacious  marauders  to  the  point 


THE   SEA  AND  THE   DESERT  193 

in  question.  The  story  is  too  well  known  to  be 
further  dwelt  on  here.  The  adventurers  started 
without  the  "  White  God."  They  were  never 
heard  of  afterward,  and  the  fable  of  El  Dorado 
has  become  a  tradition. 

Leaving  the  station  of  Casa  Grande,  after  a 
drive  of  six  or  seven  miles,  there  loomed  out  of 
the  distance  on  the  flat  plain,  which  here  seemed 
more  fully  to  realize  my  preconceived  notions 
of  a  desert,  a  mammoth  structure.  Standing  all 
alone  as  it  does,  the  ruins  of  this  colossal  house 
built  by  unknown  hands  look  out  upon  an  ex- 
panse of  almost  desert  country  as  far  as  the  eye 
can  reach,  the  ultimate  view  being  one  limited  by 
the  ever  present  horizon  of  mountains.  As  we 
came  close  it  was  seen  to  be  an  oblong  edifice, 
perhaps  a  hundred  feet  wide  and  some  four  hun- 
dred feet  long.  The  main  walls,  at  places  eight 
and  even  ten  feet  thick,  indicated  a  building 
which  had  once  been  at  least  three  stories  in 
height.  This  could  plainly  be  seen  by  the  empty 
mortices,  in  which  the  beams  that  had  once  sup- 
ported the  several  floors  formerly  rested.  The 
roof  of  this  vast  pile  was  gone.  Around  it,  at 
various  points,  huge  mounds  of  gravel,  clay,  and 
sand  marked  where  the  hand  of  time  had  dis- 
integrated and  almost  levelled  other  structures  of 
equally  imposing  proportions.  What  had  once 
been  a  canal  was  marked  only  by  a  depression, 


i94  THE   STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

leading  far  out  into  the  desert  toward  the  river 
some  fifteen  miles  away.  One  may  picture  Cabe9a 
de  Vaca  looking  down  from  some  distant  hill  at 
eventide  on  the  huge  habitations,  standing  in  a 
cultivated  plain,  irrigated  by  water  brought  in  the 
great  ditch  from  the  distant  river.  As  the  rays 
of  the  declining  sun  struck  on  the  flat  roofs  and 
walls  of  the  city,  painting  them  all  with  gold,  it 
needed  no  sublime  faith  to  credit  the  marvellous 
tales  of  his  guides,  —  El  Dorado,  the  land  of  gold, 
stretched  away  at  his  feet 

The  day's  journey  terminated  at  Florence, 
the  first  Mexican,  or  semi-Mexican  town  I  had 
seen.  A  straggling  collection  of  one-story  adobe 
houses,  some  of  them  residences,  others  stores,  and 
again,  on  the  outskirts,  apparently  cattle  or  agri- 
cultural ranches,  the  whole  brown  and  dusty,  and 
pervaded  with  that  peculiar,  indescribable,  subtle, 
sweet  aroma  of  alkali. 

An  irrigation  system,  depending  on  the  river 
which  ran  hard  by,  afforded  not  only  means  for 
growing  many  shade  trees,  but  in  places  at- 
tempts were  made  to  secure  a  growth  of  grass. 
Along  the  river  itself  rose  cottonwoods  and  other 
trees  of  considerable  dimensions,  with  an  under- 
growth of  bushes  of  various  kinds,  not  unlike 
what  one  sees  in  any  similar  location  in  the 
East. 

The  birds,  however,  were  all  different.     Every 


THE  SEA  AND   THE   DESERT  195 

group  of  bushy  cactus  on  the  way  over  the  desert 
had  one  or  more  pairs  of  cactus- wrens ;  generally 
some  Palmer's  thrashers  were  also  to  be  seen  in 
these  localities,  and  Bendire's  thrasher  was  not 
infrequent.  Occasionally  meadow-larks  of  the 
western  type  were  noticed ;  but  the  quail  of 
two  kinds,  the  scaled  and  Gambel's,  were  the  pre- 
eminent bird  inhabitants.  They  were  everywhere ; 
in  the  road,  and  scrambling  away  through  the 
dried  grass,  sometimes  when  approached  and  sur- 
prised flying  to  a  bush,  but  generally  running  in 
small  troops  on  the  ground. 

Wherever  the  giant  cactus  reared  its  columns, 
several  kinds  of  woodpeckers  abounded;  the  red- 
shafted  flicker,  the  Texan  and  Gila  woodpeckers 
were  most  conspicuous.  In  many  places  these 
plants  bore  evidence  of  being  the  nesting  sites  of 
the  birds.  The  circular  borings  which  shone  out 
as  round,  black  spots  on  their  outstretched  arms, 
marked  the  entrance  to  many  homes.  Again,  the 
nest  of  some  large  hawk  rested  in  the  protecting 
arms  of  these  giants.  Swainson's  hawk  and  the 
western  form  of  the  red-tailed,  were  the  pro- 
prietors. The  adaptability  to  environment,  ex- 
emplified by  the  nesting  habits  of  birds,  is  here 
well  shown.  As  every  one  knows,  in  the  eastern 
part  of  America  the  red-tailed  hawks  generally 
build  their  nest  in  the  loftiest  trees  of  dense 
forests;  they  are  always  situated  at  very  consider- 


196  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

able  heights,  and  are  difficult  of  access.  In  the 
desert  I  have  frequently  looked  from  the  ground 
into  the  nest  of  the  red-tailed  hawk  set  low  in 
some  low  mesquite,  or  in  the  branching  arms  of  a 
giant  cactus. 

A  number  of  species  of  doves  were  also  con- 
spicuous both  on  the  drive  and  in  the  streets  of 
Florence,  noticeable  among  which  was  the  white- 
winged  pigeon.  These  birds  were  generally 
gregarious,  and  frequented  clumps  of  giant  cactus 
in  the  vicinity  of  water,  though  also  met  with  far 
out  on  the  desert.  Now  and  then  that  fleet-footed 
bird,  the  road-runner,  "  chaparral-cock,"  or  ground 
cuckoo  passed  across  the  road  in  front  of  the 
wagon,  and  quickly  disappeared  with  his  rapid, 
gliding  gait  into  the  nearest  cover.  I  did  not 
see  one  fly.  Generally  they  would  stand  for  a 
moment  to  look,  with  erected  crest,  at  the  coming 
vehicle,  and  then,  with  outstretched  neck  and 
long  tail  all  in  a  line  with  the  back,  the  whole 
reminding  one  of  a  race-horse  at  his  extended 
pace,  these  birds  would  bear  out  the  common 
name  given  them. 

In  the  mesquite  growths,  pairs  of  yellow-headed 
titmice  were  always  present,  and  bush-tits  in  com- 
panies might  be  seen  in  similar  locations.  About 
growths  of  palo  verde,  that  well-named  tree  with 
microscopic  leaves,  which  was  then  adorned  with 
its  golden  bloom,  many  humming-birds  congre- 


THE   SEA   AND   THE   DESERT  197 

gated,  as  also  wherever  the  agave  or  century  plant 
was  in  bloom. 

Late  the  next  afternoon  we  started  for  the 
thirty  mile  drive  to  Riverside  in  the  valley  of  the 
Gila.  The  route  was  through  the  foot-hills  of 
the  mountains  which  rose  on  either  side  of  the 
river,  and  we  were  constantly  passing  over  hills 
of  considerable  elevation.  To  avoid  the  heat  we 
had  started  late  in  the  day,  and  most  of  the  ensu- 
ing drive  was  by  moonlight,  so  that  impressions 
as  to  the  fauna  and  flora  by  the  way  were  indefi- 
nite. Just  at  dusk  a  little  whippoorwill  alighted 
in  the  bare  dust  of  the  roadway,  and  now  and 
then  a  coyote  trotted  leisurely  away  ahead  of 
us,  or  another  would  view  the  passing  vehicle 
from  some  neighboring  elevation,  with  every 
indication  of  interest.  Both  jack-rabbits  and 
their  smaller  allies  gambolled  by  the  roadside, 
and  several  times  the  horses  shied  violently  as 
the  shrill  cicada-like  warning  of  a  rattlesnake 
broke  the  pervading  stillness. 

The  journey  was  necessarily  slow,  as  much  of 
the  road  followed  the  beds  of  dried-up  streams 
and  was  extremely  sandy.  These  dry  waterways 
were  at  that  time  the  most  feasible  lines  of  travel, 
and  were  utilized  throughout  the  mountains, 
wherever  the  pioneer  had  penetrated  their  fast- 
nesses. Passage  through  this  sand  of  course  was 
accomplished  silently,  and  hence  every  sound 


198  THE   STORY  OF   A  BIRD   LOVER 

was  audible.  The  call  of  the  little  whippoorwill 
that  we  had  seen  was  composed  of  two  notes,  and 
was  much  more  deliberate  than  the  song  associ- 
ated with  the  whippoorwill  of  the  East.  Uttered 
some  five  or  six  times  in  succession,  it  sounded 
like  "  poor  will,  poor  will,  poor  will,  poor  will,  poor 
will."  At  about  eleven  o'clock  we  arrived  at  our 
destination,  Riverside ;  as  far  as  I  could  see  in 
the  moonlight,  this  city  consisted  of  a  single 
house,  and  morning  confirmed  this  conclusion. 
Daylight  disclosed  a  narrow  and  winding  val- 
ley, through  which  flowed  the  Gila,  a  rushing 
mountain  torrent  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  wide,  and  fordable  only  at  a  few  points.  At 
ordinary  times  the  water  is  clear  and  limpid, 
though  slightly  alkaline  in  quality,  but  in  flood 
the  stream  is  turbid,  and  the  strength  of  the 
current  with  the  additional  depth  of  water  makes 
fording  impossible.  The  valley  is  so  narrow  that 
the  bottom  land  in  this  neighborhood  is  scarcely 
sufficient  for  cultivation.  On  the  northern  side 
of  the  stream  rise  abruptly  the  foot-hills  of  the 
Final  Mountains,  a  rugged  range  whose  highest 
peaks  attain  an  approximate  altitude  of  ten 
thousand  feet.  On  the  south  side  of  the  river 
the  bottom  land  extends  back  for  perhaps  a 
quarter  of  a  mile,  and  then  a  series  of  plateaus, 
the  ascents  to  which  are  steep,  shut  in  this  side 
of  the  valley.  These  plateaus  or  mesas  are  char- 


THE   SEA  AND   THE   DESERT  199 

acteristic  of  the  southwest.  They  are  broken  by 
arroyos,  which  are  the  beds  of  streams  that  have 
cut  deep  into  the  face  of  the  country,  often  form- 
ing canons,  and  rarely  containing  water  save  at 
time  of  flood.  The  dry  beds  of  the  arroyos  are 
frequently  the  driveways  from  one  point  to 
another.  The  vegetation  is  similar  to  that  in  the 
vicinity  of  Florence;  large  sycamores  and  cotton- 
woods  are  common  along  the  river  banks,  while  a 
scattered  growth  of  mesquite  and  palo  verde, 
interspersed  with  cat-claw  thickets  and  growths 
of  ocotilla  and  the  different  kinds  of  cacti,  stretch 
back  into  the  hills  on  either  side.  Except  directly 
on  the  edges  of  the  river  there  is  no  verdure  save 
during  the  rainy  season,  to  which  I  shall  refer 
later,  the  whole  country  presenting  the  parched, 
dry,  brown  character  that  distinguishes  the  desert 
in  general. 

Just  back  from  the  stream  on  the  south  bank,  a 
little  way  from  the  ford  which  crosses  it,  stood  at 
that  time  a  single  adobe  house  with  a  few  out- 
buildings ;  this  with  one  cabin  composed  the 
town  of  Riverside.  The  view  of  the  river,  the 
mountains,  and  the  plateaus  directly  across  was 
extremely  picturesque,  and  contrasted  strongly 
with  the  squalor  and  insignificance  of  the  settle- 
ment. What  little  traffic  occurs  in  the  vicinity 
of  a  ranch  of  this  kind  very  soon  destroys  the 
bunches  of  grass  which  at  other  points  relieve 


200  THE   STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

the  arid  waste.  On  either  hand,  almost  as  far  as 
one  could  look  up  and  down  the  valley,  the  ground 
was  as  absolutely  bare  as  if  newly  tilled.  Add  to 
this  its  parched  character,  which  allowed  the 
slightest  travel  to  grind  the  surface  into  dust, 
and  the  picture  is  complete. 

At  the  time  this  ranch  at  Riverside  served  as  a 
station  for  the  stage  route  that  ran  from  the  rail- 
way to  the  city  of  Globe,  a  copper  camp  of  con- 
siderable importance,  high  in  the  Finals.  As  I 
proposed  to  make  this  my  headquarters  for  some 
two  months,  I  looked  about  for  quarters.  Finally 
I  secured  the  solitary  cabin,  which  consisted  of  a 
single  room,  some  twelve  feet  square.  It  was 
built  of  adobe,  and  had  the  ordinary  mud  floor 
and  roof.  On  the  side  away  from  the  river  I 
soon  had  erected  a  shade  forming  a  sort  of  piazza, 
or  outside  room.  Here  in  most  weathers  I  was 
able  to  prepare  such  ornithological  material  as 
was  collected. 

Small  birds  were  present  in  great  numbers  and 
variety.  The  Gila  woodpecker  could  be  heard 
calling  everywhere,  much  like  its  red-bellied  ally 
in  Missouri  and  Kansas.  Mocking-birds  and  two 
thrashers,  Palmer's  and  crissal,  sang  constantly. 
Along  the  river,  two  warblers,  one  of  them  breed- 
ing commonly,  at  once  arrested  my  attention. 
These  were  Lucy's  warbler  and  Virginia's  war- 
bler, both  characteristic  of  this  region.  The 


THE   SEA   AND   THE   DESERT  201 

vermilion  flycatcher,  the  male  of  which  is  a  strik- 
ing bird,  was  also  numerous,  while  the  Arkansas 
flycatcher  which  takes  the  place  of  our  king-bird 
of  the  East,  nested  both  along  the  river  and  back 
in  the  foot-hills.  The  common  phcebe  of  the  East, 
associated  in  every  mind  with  rural  bridges,  barns, 
and  houses,  was  represented  by  the  black  phcebe ; 
and  another,  Say's  phcebe,  was  found  here  as 
a  migrant.  The  great  crested  flycatcher  also 
found  a  prototype  in  the  crested  flycatcher  of 
Arizona,  which  not  only  resembled  it  in  habits, 
but  was  like  it  in  appearance.  This  was  emi- 
nently a  region  of  flycatchers,  for  I  have  not 
enumerated  all  the  different  kinds.  Twelve 
others  occurred  here  either  as  breeding  or  migrant 
birds.  The  exuberance  of  insect  life  largely  ac- 
counted for  the  predominance  of  this  family. 
A  word  further  regarding  one  mentioned,  the 
vermilion  flycatcher,  to  distinguish  him.  This 
is  a  little  bird ;  in  size  about  like  the  wood-pewee 
of  the  East,  with  a  chocolate  brown  back,  tail,  and 
wings.  The  head  is  surmounted  by  a  fiery 
scarlet  crest,  reaching  all  over  the  occiput  and 
down  to  the  eyes,  and  the  entire  under  parts  are 
of  this  same  vivid  color.  Now  the  habits  of  this 
flycatcher  are  similar  to  those  of  its  congeners, 
its  prey  being  taken  chiefly  on  the  wing,  and 
when  executing  this  feat,  the  lower  surface  then 
being  fully  exposed,  the  bird  presents  a  striking 


202  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

appearance.  In  the  bright  glare  of  the  burning 
sunshine,  this  little  bird,  when  hovering  in  the 
air  in  pursuit  of  its  invisible  prey,  seems  the  very 
essence  and  genius  of  fire. 

At  two  points  not  far  distant  from  the  house 
I  found  pairs  of  zone-tailed  hawks  breeding, 
soon  after  my  arrival.  The  white-necked  raven 
was  frequently  seen,  and  its  hard  guttural  croak 
often  heard,  while  the  raven  proper  was  not 
so  common.  Humming-birds  darted  everywhere, 
and  at  least  two  kinds  were  nesting,  while  several 
others  were  often  noticed.  The  black-chinned 
humming-bird  is  almost  precisely  like  our  ruby- 
throat  of  the  East,  save  that  the  gorget  appears 
black,  but  when  seen  in  the  proper  light  reveals  a 
deep  royal  purple.  The  other,  Costa's  hummer, 
rather  smaller  than  ours,  besides  having  a  beauti- 
ful violet  cap  and  throat,  has  this  exquisite  color 
extended  in  a  point  downward  on  either  side  of 
the  neck.  It  always  made  me  think  of  a  dandy 
with  a  fine  flowing  beard  of  gorgeous  tint,  care- 
fully parted  in  the  middle  and  brushed  to  points 
on  either  side. 

The  hooded  oriole  is  a  golden  bird,  relieved  by 
black,  something  like  an  orchard  oriole  in  shape,  but 
even  more  slender ;  and  it  is  a  little  larger.  These 
orioles  were  present  everywhere  in  the  trees  along 
the  river.  Yellow-headed  titmice  were  breeding 
on  the  mesas  to  the  south  of  the  river  and  in 


THE   SEA  AND   THE   DESERT  203 

many  of  the  cat-claw  thickets,  while  cactus-wrens, 
Palmer's  and  crissal  thrashers  were  more  per- 
ceptible to  the  ear  than  to  the  eye  in  every  patch 
of  cholla. 

Clumps  of  cholla  also  offered  refuge  to  the 
chaparral-cocks,  to  covies  of  Gamble's  quail,  and 
were  favorite  nesting  places  for  thrashers,  cactus- 
wrens,  and  road-runners.  The  mourning  dove, 
the  white-winged  dove,  and  the  ground  dove  were 
the  noticeable  pigeons.  Kingfishers,  while  not 
abundant,  were  frequently  discovered  on  the 
river.  Gairdner's  woodpecker  was  uncommon, 
and  the  Texan  woodpecker,  the  Gila  woodpecker, 
and  red-shafted  flicker  were  numerous. 

At  dusk  the  little  whippoorwill  mentioned  as 
occurring  along  the  road  could  always  be  seen 
and  heard,  and  a  little  earlier  in  the  day  many 
Texan  night-hawks  circled  the  air.  The  white- 
winged  blackbird,  the  meadow-lark,  and  Brewer's 
blackbird  were  all  common.  The  house-finch, 
the  prototype  of  our  purple  finch,  was  one  of  the 
familiar  sparrows,  rivalled  by  the  Arkansas  gold- 
finch. The  black-throated  sparrow  and  the 
desert  song  sparrow  bred  in  the  vicinity,  and 
Lincoln's  sparrow  was  met  with  as  a  migrant, 
while  the  lark-finch  was  a  conspicuous  member 
of  the  sparrow  population.  Cooper's  tanager,  the 
cliff  swallow,  and  the  western  warbling  vireo 
about  completed  the  summary  in  a  general  way. 


204  THE   STORY  OF   A  BIRD   LOVER 

I  have  enumerated  these  birds  without  dwelling 
much  upon  their  habits  and  characteristics;  but 
a  future  chapter  will,  I  trust,  show  sufficient 
reason  for  this. 

The  altitude  of  Riverside  above  the  sea  is  given 
by  the  Government  Survey  as  twenty-two  hun- 
dred feet.  The  only  other  locality  where  I  made 
anything  like  a  detailed  investigation  of  bird  life 
at  this  time,  and  there  only  for  a  few  days,  was  at 
the  headwaters  of  Mineral  Creek,  not  far  distant, 
an  altitude  approximating  five  thousand  feet. 
Here  most  of  the  birds  seen  at  Riverside  were  also 
found.  Once  I  saw  a  great  blue  heron  fishing 
in  one  of  the  pools  high  up  in  the  mountains, 
and  the  black-headed  grosbeak  and  the  black- 
throated  sparrow  were  both  found  breeding  in 
early  June. 

I  will  now  briefly  discuss  some  of  the  salient 
features  which  characterize  the  watercourses 
and  mountains  of  southern  Arizona.  The  con- 
ventional conception  of  a  river  would  be  wide 
of  the  mark  here.  The  rivers  are  fed,  as  all 
properly  constructed  rivers  should  be,  by  the 
tiny  streams  and  brooks  that  flow  into  them 
through  the  more  considerable  branches  into 
which  they  ramify.  If  it  would  not  be  too  Irish 
a  way  of  putting  it,  I  should  say  that  the  mouths 
of  the  streams  in  this  part  of  Arizona  are  char- 
acterized by  absence  of  water.  For  instance,  I 


THE   SEA  AND  THE   DESERT  205 

have  spoken  of  the  Gila  as  a  rushing  mountain 
torrent  in  the  vicinity  of  Riverside,  and  at 
Florence  it  was  considerable  in  volume,  though 
somewhat  smaller.  Now,  the  Gila  is  one  of  the 
chief  branches  of  the  Colorado  River,  joining  it 
in  the  vicinity  of  Yuma ;  but  there  are  long 
stretches  of  the  Gila  between  Florence  and  Yuma 
which,  save  in  times  of  extreme  freshet,  do  not 
present  any  water  at  the  surface. 

Mineral  Creek  was  a  very  pretty  mountain 
creek  high  up  in  the  Finals.  The  farther  one 
travelled  its  course  from  its  source  to  where  it 
joined  the  Gila,  the  less  evident  became  the  water 
at  the  surface.  First  it  was  a  brook  of  consider- 
able extent,  then  it  became  a  series  of  detached 
pools.  These  occurred  presently  at  long  inter- 
vals, and  finally,  for  the  last  five  miles,  the  stream 
was  traceable  only  by  the  dry  bed  which  carried 
the  superfluous  water  of  freshet  times.  I  may 
summarize  the  situation  by  saying  that  the  char- 
acteristic of  the  watercourses  of  Arizona  is  the 
sinking  below  the  surface  of  the  visible  stream  as 
soon  as  the  arid  stretches  of  desert  away  from  the 
mountains  are  reached.  The  alluvium  at  these 
points,  besides  being  dry  and  parched  and  of 
great  depth,  is  sufficiently  loose  and  gravelly  to 
allow  even  great  streams  of  water  to  percolate 
through  and  flow  as  streams,  when  bed-rock  is 
attained  often  far  below  the  surface. 


206  THE   STORY  OF   A  BIRD   LOVER 

Watercourses  may  be  traced  in  Arizona  in 
every  direction,  but  it  is  seldom  that  they  are 
characterized  in  the  desert  region,  or  far  from  the 
hills,  by  any  visible  water.  It  is  true  that,  at 
times,  the  rush  of  water,  where  it  is  seen,  perhaps, 
but  once  in  a  lifetime  along  such  a  dry  wash,  may 
become  so  violent  as  to  preclude  the  passage  of 
the  stream.  Great  freight  teams,  of  eighteen  or 
twenty  mules,  travelling  down  these  natural  road- 
beds, have  been  obliterated  in  less  time  than  is 
required  to  speak  of  the  catastrophe.  But  in  a 
short  period,  at  the  most  a  few  hours,  the 
torrent  has  passed,  and  whatever  water  seeks  this 
channel  of  escape  flows  again  beneath  the  surface, 
which  presents  in  an  infinitely  short  time  the  dry, 
sandy  bed  indicative  of  the  stream  below. 

The  general  trend  of  the  broken  mountain- 
chains  of  Southern  Arizona  is  approximately 
northeast  and  southwest.  The  side  of  these 
ranges  facing  the  south  is  usually  precipitous; 
the  escarpment  rises  almost  abruptly  out  of 
the  plain,  often  as  naked  walls  of  rock.  The 
verdure  is  necessarily  scanty.  A  giant  cactus 
may  find  lodgment  in  some  crevice  of  the 
rock,  or  a  stunted  mesquite  tree  cling  in  some 
fissure.  The  whole  aspect  of  such  a  mountain, 
viewed  from  the  south,  presents  a  most  for- 
bidding appearance.  It  is  a  skeleton,  bare  and 
naked,  with  not  one  soft  touch  of  verdure;  the 


THE   SEA  AND  THE   DESERT  207 

pinnacles  of  rock  which  compose  it  are  clearly 
cut  against  the  sky.  Approach  one  01  these 
ranges  from  the  north,  and  the  ascent  is  not 
only  gradual,  until  near  the  summit,  but  the 
entire  set  of  conditions  prevailing  on  the  other 
side  of  the  mountains  are  absent.  A  series  of 
table-lands,  mesas,  and  natural  terraces  rise 
gently  one  above  the  other,  so  that  the  effect  in 
the  distance  is  one  of  long  and  gradual  ascent. 
These  mesas  are  flat  plains,  covered  with  charac- 
teristic desert  flora,  until  about  four  thousand 
feet  altitude  is  attained.  Here  the  grass  becomes 
much  more  luxuriant,  and  besides  the  mesquite, 
live  oaks  are  distributed  over  both  the  mesa  and 
the  sides  of  the  hills,  so  that  the  whole  effect  is 
park-like.  There  comes,  too,  with  a  higher 
altitude,  a  considerable  variation  in  growth  and 
variety  of  deciduous  trees,  and  finally,  at  about 
eight  thousand  feet,  pines  stretch  to  the  face  of 
the  precipices  on  the  exposed  Southern  side. 
Such  forests  are  only  rivalled  by  those  of  the 
Sierras  in  California.  Here  the  giant  pine  and 
spruce  present  a  sombre  wood  of  great  beauty, 
well  watered  by  ice-cold  mountain  streams,  the 
very  antithesis  of  the  desert  conditions  but  a 
few  miles  distant. 

The  traveller  who  cares  to  visit  a  range  answer- 
ing my  description,  need  only  stop  on  his  journey 
at  the  city  of  Tucson.  From  the  railway  he  may 


208  THE   STORY  OF   A  BIRD   LOVER 

view  the  panorama  of  the  Santa  Catalinas,  stretch- 
ing just  to  the  north,  only  some  twelve  or  fifteen 
miles  away,  bald,  naked,  and  monumental  against 
the  sky. 

From  Tucson  a  journey  of  six  hours  on  horse- 
back will  bring  the  rider  into  the  valley  of  the 
Rio  San  Pedro;  another  hour  will  suffice  to 
reach  that  stream.  The  whole  northern  slope  is 
now  revealed,  and  may  be  ascended  by  the  rider 
to  the  grand  pine  woods  on  the  very  summit  of 
these  stately  mountains.  The  panorama  when 
the  outer  edge  of  the  forest  is  approached  is  in- 
spiring. The  precipice  descends  abruptly  to  the 
plain  at  the  base  of  the  range.  The  general 
aspect  of  the  scene  below  is  desert-like.  Tucson, 
with  its  clustering  shade  trees  and  cultivated 
fields,  forms  an  oasis  in  the  foreground.  Then 
the  waste  stretches  far  away  to  the  south,  bounded 
only  by  high  ranges.  Towering  above  all,  on  the 
very  horizon,  yet  clearly  defined  in  the  wonderful 
prevailing  atmosphere,  almost  two  hundred  miles 
away,  are  some  of  the  mighty  peaks  of  the  Sierra 
Madre  of  Mexico.  The  variety  of  light  and  shade 
serves  to  enhance  the  air  of  mystery  and  grandeur 
which  prevails. 


CHAPTER  IX 

SOUTHERN    ARIZONA 

DURING  the  two  months'  stay  in  Arizona,  in  the 
spring,  I  became  convinced  that  my  own  interests 
demanded  a  residence  of  considerable  time  in  the 
territory.  This  scientific  reconnoissance  had  also 
shown  the  richness  of  the  region  in  bird  life,  and 
made  me  most  desirous  to  continue  my  inves- 
tigation. 

On  my  return  to  Princeton  in  June,  I  applied 
to  the  trustees  for  a  year's  leave  of  absence,  which 
was  granted.  In  October  I  again  returned  to 
Arizona,  this  time  accompanied  by  Mrs.  Scott, 
Mary,  the  faithful  friend  who  had  shared  our  ear- 
lier wanderings,  and  Grouse.  Mineral  Creek  gave 
us  a  taste  of  true  frontier  life,  making  previous 
experiences  in  Colorado  and  Florida  tame  by 
comparison.  Our  camp  was  on  the  very  out- 
skirts of  civilization.  The  rough  wagon  trail  to 
Riverside,  forty  miles  distant,  passed  through  an 
entirely  unsettled  country. 

The  Prices,  our  sole  neighbors  in  the  canon, 
were  nomads  from  Pike  County,  Missouri,  whose 
wanderings  had  brought  them  to  this  remote 
p  209 


210  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD    LOVER 

valley,  where  they  lingered  for  a  time,  to  fatten 
their  small  band  of  cattle  and  hogs. 

Of  our  more  distant  neighbors,  the  Apaches, 
fourteen  miles  away  across  the  range,  at  the  San 
Carlos  Reservation,  we  were  often  reminded. 
Mountains  to  them  were  no  barrier,  and  forays  on 
unprotected  ranches  or  camps  were  by  no  means 
uncommon  in  those  days.  The  attack  was  usually 
made  at  early  dawn,  and  came  with  such  sudden 
fury  that  there  was  little  chance  for  escape. 
The  Indians  at  San  Carlos  were  supposed  to  be 
under  strict  surveillance,  but  now  and  again  a 
band  escaped.  Sometimes,  too,  numbers  would 
be  permitted  to  go  out  to  gather  the  mesquite  bean 
or  the  fruit  of  the  saguaro.  These  rovers,  called 
good  Indians  on  the  reservation,  became  demons 
the  moment  the  white  man  was  at  their  mercy. 

Shortly  before  our  arrival  the  Prices  had  been 
warned,  by  a  scout  sent  on  horseback,  that  the 
Apaches  were  raiding  and  headed  toward  Mineral 
Creek.  Instantly  they  made  ready;  the  mother 
and  three  children  were  placed  on  one  horse,  the 
grown  daughter  and  two  more  children  took  the 
only  other  horse,  the  men  seized  their  rifles  and 
another  child  each,  and  so  they  started  at  night 
across  the  mountains  to  Globe.  Climbing  the 
steep,  rough  trail,  over  rocks  and  logs,  along  the 
edges  of  precipices,  they  hurried.  Suddenly 
the  mother  looked  behind  her:  a  child  was 


SOUTHERN   ARIZONA  211 

missing.  A  halt  was  made,  one  of  the  men  went 
back  and  found  the  poor,  frightened  little  creature 
a  mile  away.  Then  they  struggled  on,  sought 
shelter  in  Globe,  and  there  remained  till  the 
troops  forced  the  Indians  to  return  to  the  reser- 
vation. Until  the  final  capture  of  Geronimo,  the 
number  of  settlers  killed  annually  could  be  counted 
by  the  hundred.  Residence  in  these  remote  re- 
gions was  attended  by  a  constant  sense  of  danger. 

The  miners  in  my  employ  built  for  us  a  rude 
but  comfortable  cabin,  with  chimney  and  open 
fireplace,  that  indispensable  adjunct  of  camp  life. 

Early  in  December  I  completed  my  work  here ; 
but  as  the  bird  life  of  the  region  has  been  touched 
on  in  a  previous  chapter,  and  is  dealt  with  fully  in 
the  bibliography,  it  will  not  again  be  dwelt  upon. 

The  attempted  regeneration  of  the  Price  family 
afforded  Mrs.  Scott  an  interest  for  her  unoccu- 
pied moments,  and  in  this  effort  she  had  Mary's 
earnest  support.  They  began  with  two  of  the 
younger  children,  Bob  and  Nan,  eight  and  six  re- 
spectively. Turned  out  early  in  the  morning,  with 
tangled  hair,  smutty  faces,  and  unwashed  bodies, 
their  scanty  clothes,  securely  fastened,  removed 
only  through  wear  and  tear,  these  little  waifs  were 
wholly  uncared  for,  and  left  to  shift  for  themselves. 
But  soap  and  water,  comb  and  brush,  vigorously 
applied,  accomplished  marvels.  A  new  blue  frock 
for  Nan,  a  clean  suit  for  Bob,  effected  a  further 


212  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

transformation,  and  made  us  acquainted  with  two 
bright-eyed,  attractive  children.  The  daily  visit 
was  a  pleasure.  They  delighted  in  helping  Mary, 
watching  me  at  my  work,  listening  to  stories 
or  in  telling  us  about  the  calves,  the  pig,  the 
coyotes  that  came  to  the  corral  at  night,  and 
with  open  eyes  of  the  big  bear  shot  by  "  Dave 
and  Paw." 

A  business  journey  to  the  East  in  December 
took  us  away  from  Mineral  Creek,  and  the  time 
of  my  absence  was  spent  by  Mrs.  Scott  in  Tucson. 
On  my  return  we  devoted  several  weeks  to  an 
exploration  of  the  outlying  country.  Twelve 
miles  northeast  of  the  town,  in  the  foot-hills  of 
the  Santa  Catalinas,  beyond  Camp  Lowell,  is 
Agua  Caliente.  The  Hot  Springs  are  approached 
through  a  forest  of  the  giant  cactus.  The  word 
forest  alone  describes  the  closely  massed  columns 
of  the  saguaro,  scattered  over  the  vast  area, 
almost  to  the  exclusion  of  other  plant  life. 

The  hard,  woody  ribs  that  surround  the  pith  of 
the  cactus,  like  the  staves  of  a  barrel,  are  pierced 
in  many  places  by  Gila,  red-shafted,  and  gilded 
woodpeckers,  who  find  in  the  soft  central  mass 
a  material  readily  excavated  for  domiciles.  The 
general  habit  of  woodpeckers  is  to  seek  new 
nesting  places  every  year.  The  abandoned  cavi- 
ties of  former  seasons  are  promptly  preempted  by 
two  kinds  of  owls,  the  Mexican  screech  owl  and 


SOUTHERN   ARIZONA  213 

a  miniature  species  known  as  Whitney's  owl, 
peculiar  to  the  region.  Sparrow-hawks,  too,  de- 
light in  becoming  tenants.  The  saguaros  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Agua  Caliente  afforded  excel- 
lent opportunities  for  studying  the  habits  of 
Whitney's  owl,  but  my  chief  difficulty  was  to  get 
close  enough  to  the  opening  of  the  nest.  The 
birds  were  far  from  shy;  they  sat  in  the  open 
doors  of  their  retreats,  paying  no  attention  to  the 
passer-by.  A  light  sectional  padder  readily  car- 
ried in  our  "  ambulance  "  solved  the  difficulty. 

At  Camp  Lowell  generous  hospitality  always 
awaited  us,  and  it  was  one  of  the  pleasures  of  our 
stay  in  Tucson  to  visit  our  friends  at  the  "  Post." 
In  my  frontier  life  I  have  received  unfailing  kind- 
ness and  consideration  from  officers  in  both 
branches  of  the  Service.  No  body  of  men  I  have 
known  have  wider  scientific  interests. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1883  I  looked  for  a  point 
at  which  to  continue  my  ornithological  work. 
The  northern  slope  of  the  Santa  Catalinas  was 
finally  chosen  for  personal  as  well  as  scientific 
reasons.  Pepper  Sauce  Gulch  was  the  site  of  our 
new  home.  I  built  here  a  simple  cottage  of 
bungalow  type,  with  wide-spreading  roof,  hauling 
in  the  lumber  fifty  miles  from  Tucson.  The 
material  used  was  California  redwood,  and  this 
served  not  only  for  walls,  floors,  and  shingles  of 
the  roof,  but  was  converted  readily  into  the  win- 


214  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

dow  seats,  book-cases,  dressing  tables,  and  bed- 
steads that  formed  our  furniture. 

The  rooms  were  hung  with  cheap  calicoes  of 
pretty  design.  Bear  and  deer  skins,  Mexican  ser- 
apes,  and  Navajo  blankets  made  effective  rugs. 
When  in  all  its  completeness  the  cottage  appeared 
for  the  first  time  to  the  astonished  gaze  of  Jesus 
Maria  Castro,  our  Mexican  neighbor,  he  exclaimed 
in  Spanish,  "  Behold  the  Little  Palace  of  Mon- 
tezuma !  "  This  romantic  name  it  bore  ever  after. 

Pepper  Sauce  Gulch  in  the  Old  Hat  District, 
on  the  north  side  of  the  Santa  Catalina  Moun- 
tains, winds  down  to  the  valley  of  the  San  Pedro 
River.  The  upper  reaches  of  the  canon  run 
between  abrupt  hills,  which  tower  on  either  side 
for  about  a  thousand  feet.  The  sides  of  these  hills 
are  grassy,  and  the  timber  consists  almost  entirely 
of  a  kind  of  live  oak. 

Close  to  the  house  good  water  was  abundant 
in  the  bed  of  the  canon,  but  for  our  use  was  piped 
from  a  spring  high  in  the  mountains.  The  site 
of  the  "  Little  Palace  "  was  on  the  side  of  a  hill 
some  hundred  feet  above  the  bottom  of  the 
gulch,  the  hills  being  here  so  steep  that  it  was 
necessary  to  cut  out  a  shelf  for  the  main  part  of 
the  floor.  The  beams,  which  projected  far  be- 
yond the  excavations,  were  supported  by  uprights 
rising  from  the  ground  below;  it  was  in  this 
respect  like  a  Swiss  chalet.  On  the  side  of 


SOUTHERN   ARIZONA  215 

the  dwelling  toward  the  canon,  a  wide  piazza,  or 
balcony,  faced  the  hills  opposite.  This  balcony 
extended  all  along  the  front  and  one  side  of  the 
house,  and  the  entrance  to  it  was  from  the  steep, 
winding  trail  which  led  up  from  the  bottom  of  the 
canon  to  one  corner  at  the  rear.  The  nearest 
neighbors  were  ranchmen,  some  three  miles  dis- 
tant, and  mail  was  brought  twice  a  week  to  a 
place  known  as  American  Flag. 

The  altitude  of  the  region  just  about  the  house 
was  five  thousand  feet  above  the  sea  level,  and 
therefore  about  halfway  up  the  side  of  the  range. 
Game  was  extremely  abundant ;  deer  frequently 
grazed  under  the  trees,  near  at  hand ;  and  a  walk 
in  the  canon  in  the  morning  often  revealed  the 
tracks  where  bear  had  passed  during  the  night. 
Coyotes  held  their  moonlight  concerts  on  the  hills 
back  of  the  cabin,  and  jack-rabbits  and  their 
smaller  allies  gambolled  in  the  undergrowth. 
Squirrels  scampered  over  the  rocks  and  among 
the  branches  of  the  trees  everywhere,  and  many 
birds  frequented  the  vicinity,  because  of  the 
abundance  of  water  and  the  growth  of  trees  coin- 
cident. While  the  cactus  was  not  so  conspicuous 
in  this  landscape,  the  mescal  or  agave  grew  on  all 
the  hillsides,  and  at  midsummer  these  graceful 
plants,  with  their  high  spike  sustaining  a  large 
cluster  of  compound  flowers  of  a  deep  orange  hue, 
added  to  the  beauty  of  the  scene.  These  blossoms 


216  THE   STORY  OF  A   BIRD    LOVER 

were  frequented  by  myriads  of  humming-birds. 
The  yucca,  or  soap-weed,  was  also  common,  and 
afforded  a  nesting  place  for  a  kind  of  bird  known 
as  Scott's  oriole.  This  is  a  bright,  lemon- 
colored  oriole  with  a  black  head,  much  like  his 
cousin  the  Baltimore  of  the  East,  but  larger. 
This  bird's  method  of  nest-building  I  have  dis- 
cussed in  a  paper,  but  will  briefly  summarize 
it  here. 

Most  of  my  readers  are  aware  that  the  yucca  is 
a  plant  with  a  cluster  of  long,  broad,  dagger-like 
leaves,  terminating  in  a  fine,  sharp  point,  whence 
it  receives  the  name  of  Spanish  bayonet.  The 
older  leaves  at  the  lower  whorls  are  constantly 
falling  away,  and  frequently  this  plant  attains 
considerable  height,  sometimes  ten  or  twelve 
feet,  with  a  bare,  palmlike  stem  supporting 
the  head  of  broad  leaves  at  the  top.  The  lower 
leaves  as  they  die  become  pendent,  drooping 
close  and  parallel  to  the  trunk.  Among  such 
leaves,  at  their  first  period  of  decay,  Scott's  oriole 
builds  its  nest.  This  is  done  by  picking  the 
chlorophyl  away,  leaving  the  stringlike  skele- 
ton, from  which  the  characteristic  hammocklike 
structure  of  the  oriole  is  woven.  When  complete, 
this  nest  is  similar  to  that  of  the  orchard  oriole  of 
the  East,  but  is  wholly  concealed  by  the  droop- 
ing leaves,  being  situated  between  them  and  the 
trunk  of  the  yucca.  Moreover,  it  is  well  protected 


SOUTHERN   ARIZONA  217 

from  inroads  of  enemies  by  the  sharp  points  of  the 
leaves  themselves. 

Now  it  happened  that,  in  connection  with  my 
business,  machinery  was  employed,  to  clean  which, 
and  to  wipe  away  the  oil,  cotton  waste  was  used. 
This  waste  was  thrown  away  with  other  refuse 
not  far  from  the  house.  In  the  spring  succeeding 
our  settling  here,  the  orioles  discovered  bunches 
of  this  waste,  and  in  at  least  two  cases  abandoned 
their  former  and  almost  invariable  method  of 
nesting  in  the  yucca,  and  built  conventional  oriole 
nests  in  the  oak  trees.  This  is  dwelt  upon  as 
evidence  of  the  changes  brought  about  by  immi- 
gration into  a  new  country  in  the  habits  of  the 
wild  animals  which  live  there,  without  any  inten- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  settlers. 

In  this  remote  canon  we  were  able  to  have  a 
number  of  dogs  and  other  pets  without  annoying 
or  disturbing  our  neighbors.  Grouse  was  pre- 
eminent, and  as  companions  of  his  own  kind 
there  was  Bull,  a  coarse-bred  mastiff,  two  or  three 
mongrel  black  and  tan  terriers,  and  a  varied 
assortment  of  nondescripts,  aggregating  some 
twelve  dogs. 

A  red-tailed  hawk  taken  from  a  nest  in  the 
vicinity  of  Tucson  was  now  a  year  old.  "  Peep  " 
had  never  known  captivity ;  that  is,  he  had  never 
been  in  a  cage  or  enclosure.  Usually  he  was 
allowed  to  roam  free,  and  when  confined,  was 


2i8  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

tied  by  a  thong  fastened  around  one  of  his  legs. 
He  became  very  tame,  and  would  come  to  call. 
Very  soon  he  began  to  associate  my  excursions 
with  something  to  eat,  and  before  we  had  been 
in  the  mountains  a  month,  he  always  accompanied 
me  when  I  started  away  from  the  house  with  a 
gun.  I  found  out  that  the  easiest  way  to  get  rid 
of  him  was  to  kill  as  soon  as  possible  a  squirrel 
or  lizard.  Otherwise  he  would  continue  with  me, 
and  the  first  bird  which  I  collected,  no  matter 
how  rare,  would  be  pounced  upon  and  carried  off 
to  the  nearest  tree.  At  such  times  he  would  not 
answer  the  customary  call,  and  it  was  impossible 
to  get  the  specimen  from  him,  whether  bird  or 
other  animal. 

During  the  summer  one  of  the  miners  killed  a 
deer  not  far  from  the  house,  which  had  a  new-born 
fawn,  perhaps  some  two  or  three  weeks  old,  con- 
cealed in  the  grass  near  by.  This  little  foundling 
I  took  to  the  house,  where  it  became  a  member 
of  the  family,  remaining  with  us  until  our  return 
to  the  East,  when  I  gave  him  to  a  neighboring 
ranchman.  The  buck  was  then  over  three  years 
old,  and  nearly  full  grown,  with  a  fine  set  of  horns 
indicative  of  his  age.  At  first  he  was  a  tiny  brown 
fawn,  spotted  all  over  with  white,  beautiful  and 
gentle,  and  after  a  few  hours,  very  tame.  Like  the 
hawk,  the  fawn  was  never  confined  in  an  enclosure. 
When  old  enough  to  ramble  away,  he  did  so  at 


SOUTHERN   ARIZONA  219 

pleasure,  his  only  protection  a  leather  collar,  from 
which  hung  a  bell  to  warn  any  hunters  against 
mistaking  him  for  a  wild  animal.  He  was  known 
to  the  settlers  and  the  Mexicans  about  the  coun- 
try, and  was  frequently  seen  ten  miles  away  from 
the  house.  He  became  famous  in  the  region, 
receiving  the  name  of  "  The  deer  with  the  bell." 
Often  on  his  rambles  he  was  accompanied  by 
several  of  the  dogs,  and  not  infrequently  by  the 
entire  troop. 

The  fawn  began  to  be  very  playful  when  six  or 
eight  weeks  old,  and  every  morning  would  go  to 
the  bed  of  the  canon  and  get  a  drink,  and  then 
gambol  about  on  the  small  piece  of  level  ground 
there,  an  exercise  in  which  the  dogs  soon  joined. 
After  twenty  minutes  or  half  an  hour  of  such 
playing,  Venado,  for  so  we  called  him,  would 
run  rapidly  up  the  hill  on  the  other  side  of  the 
canon,  away  from  the  house.  If  the  dogs  did 
not  follow,  he  soon  returned  and  began  to  play 
with  them  again,  but  only  for  a  few  minutes,  when 
he  once  more  started  up  the  hillside ;  now,  per- 
haps one  or  two  of  the  dogs,  or  maybe  all  of 
them,  joined  him.  The  dogs  were  essential  as 
watchmen,  in  so  remote  a  spot,  and  prolonged 
absence  on  their  part  added  to  the  danger  always 
present  from  the  Apaches  and  other  intruders. 
So  it  was  necessary,  when  Venado  endeavored  to 
entice  his  comrades  to  take  part  in  his  excursions, 


220  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

to  prevent  their  going.  Usually  some  one  on  horse- 
back headed  off  the  party  before  it  was  well 
under  way.  The  cavalcade  did  not  go  very  fast, 
but  the  procession,  led  by  the  deer,  was  soon  far 
out  of  sight,  trailing  away  over  the  hills.  I  have 
known  the  dogs  and  the  deer  to  be  gone,  on  one 
occasion,  for  five  days,  and  so  frequently  were 
they  absent  over  night  that  I  ceased  to  be  con- 
cerned, after  a  little  experience. 

These  escapades  were  immensely  enjoyed  by 
both  the  deer  and  the  dogs,  and  the  deer  came 
home  in  the  best  of  spirits  and  physical  condition. 
He  found  plenty  of  acorns  and  grass,  doubtless, 
and  cool  mountain  water.  But  it  was  otherwise 
with  the  dogs.  Twenty-four  hours  spent  without 
food,  and  worse  still,  two  or  three  days,  produced 
a  great  change  in  their  appearance.  They  came 
home  foot-sore,  and  so  thin  and  ravenous  that 
only  very  small  portions  of  food  could  be  given 
them  at  considerable  intervals. 

Not  the  least  interesting  part  of  such  episodes 
was  the  fact  that  the  mastiff,  Bull,  was  a  dog  kept 
almost  entirely  to  catch  wounded  deer.  Seeing 
one  trying  to  escape  when  only  crippled  by  a 
ball,  Bull,  who  was  very  fleet,  would  at  once  give 
chase,  run  it  down,  seize  it  by  the  throat  and 
hold  it  until  the  arrival  of  the  hunter.  Yet  this 
same  dog  spent  hours  in  playing  with  a  little 
fawn,  and  days  with  him  on  excursions  to  no  one 


SOUTHERN   ARIZONA  221 

knows  where,  in  the  wilds  of  the  mountains ! 
Where  did  they  go?  What  were  the  happen- 
ings that  proved  so  fascinating  ?  Did  they  visit 
and  romp  with  other  deer  ?  Or  was  it  the  pure 
pleasure  of  the  free  life  and  going?  Who  can 
answer  ? 

All  the  dogs  slept  at  night  on  the  veranda,  as 
close  to  one  another  as  possible  for  the  sake  of 
warmth,  the  deer  in  the  centre,  with  the  cats  of 
the  household  lying  on  top  of  the  group.  This 
was  the  usual  custom,  for  the  nights  were  'cold 
in  these  mountains.  On  rainy  days,  or  when 
tired,  Venado  would  enter  the  main  room  of  the 
house,  go  up  to  the  low  sofa  and  climb  upon  it, 
and  lying  down  with  bovine  deliberation,  would 
rest  himself.  Here  he  made  a  beautiful  picture. 
His  great,  placid,  intelligent  eyes  and  the  fine 
color  of  his  hair,  together  with  his  grace  of  form, 
are  more  readily  imagined  than  depicted.  When 
contemplative,  he  would  stay  for  hours  in  this  way, 
chewing  his  cud,  and  doubtless  ruminating  on 
new  excursions  to  be  taken  with  his  friends. 

Among  our  coterie  of  animals,  a  little  gray 
rock-squirrel  was  a  character  not  to  be  over- 
looked. Often  the  squirrel  would  join  the  deer 
on  the  sofa,  and  finding  some  soft  place  in  the 
stiff  hair  where  it  was  warm,  the  tiny  creature 
would  curl  up  and  take  a  nap.  One  of  the  traits 
of  this  squirrel  was  an  extreme  liking  for  comfort. 


222  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

Frequently,  for  he  was  also  unconfined,  he  would 
go  to  any  one  who  sat  reading  or  writing,  climb 
up,  and  find  his  way  to  the  hollow  of  the  hand, 
where  he  would  curl  into  a  ball  and  sleep.  At 
such  times  he  did  not  wish  to  be  disturbed,  and 
once  having  installed  himself,  resented  any  motion 
on  the  part  of  the  owner  of  the  hand.  Half 
awake,  he  made  a  chattering  noise,  and  if  the 
motion  did  not  cease,  would  presently  give  the 
hand  a  sharp  nip.  If  this  was  insufficient,  a  real 
bite  ensued,  so  that  whoever  held  him  was  at  his 
mercy.  Over  Venado,  when  he  curled  in  that 
animal's  hair,  he  exercised  the  same  sort  of  tyr- 
anny, and  it  was  interesting  to  see  him  bully  the 
deer  into  being  absolutely  quiet  while  he  enjoyed 
his  slumber. 

Besides  sleeping  together,  these  animals  were 
all  fed  at  the  same  time;  the  custom  being  to 
make  a  mush  of  bran,  with  bits  of  meat  and 
scrapings  from  the  table  added,  the  whole  form- 
ing a  sort  of  thick  porridge.  Some  dozen  bowls 
were  placed  upon  the  ground,  and  into  each  was 
poured  a  portion.  Every  animal  was  on  the  qui 
vive  ;  the  dogs,  the  deer,  the  cats,  and  the  squirrel 
were  all  soon  busy  eating.  There  was  no  quar- 
relling; sometimes  a  slight  admonition  was  given, 
and  when  the  first  cravings  of  hunger  were  allayed, 
a  series  of  visits  were  paid  by  all  the  animals  to 
each  dish,  changing  off,  much  as  men  do  after 


SOUTHERN   ARIZONA  223 

dinner  when  the  bottle  is  being  passed,  and  coffee 
and  cigars  are  at  hand.  These  occurrences  were 
not  casual  but  daily  happenings,  and  afforded  us 
unfailing  entertainment. 

Not  the  least  important  member  of  this  happy 
family  was  a  large  black  donkey,  or  burro.  He 
was  my  special  friend,  and  I  used  him  chiefly  on 
my  collecting  trips ;  for  I  found  him  tractable, 
intelligent,  and  affectionate.  He  soon  learned 
what  my  journeys  were  for,  and  though  afraid  of 
a  gun  at  first,  I  readily  accustomed  him  to  it. 
After  a  week's  practice  I  could  fire  both  barrels 
from  his  back  without  alarming  him  in  any  way, 
and  he  soon  learned  to  watch  the  bird  that  gen- 
erally fell  on  such  occasions.  Then  he  would 
walk  up  to  it,  allow  me  to  dismount,  secure  the 
specimen,  and  put  it  away  in  the  basket  which 
I  carried  for  the  purpose.  If  I  started  on  foot 
to  continue  my  hunt  for  a  short  time  in  that 
way,  he  followed,  pausing  when  I  paused,  and  act- 
ing as  if  he  thoroughly  understood  what  I  was 
doing,  and  enjoyed  his  participation  in  it. 

One  thing  he  did  object  to.  He  disliked  a 
wounded  bird.  Frequently  when  a  quail  jumped 
suddenly  in  front  of  him  I  would  fire  hastily, 
and  perhaps  wing  it.  At  such  times,  the  moment 
I  threw  my  gun  to  my  shoulder  "  burrito  "  was 
rigid ;  he  seemed  to  appreciate  that  I  was  not  to 
be  disturbed.  If  the  bird  fell  dead,  he  walked 


224  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

directly  to  it  and  halted;  but  when  a  wounded 
bird  struggled  on  the  ground,  it  was  a  difficult 
matter  to  get  the  burro  to  approach  it,  and  he 
generally  preferred  to  have  me  dismount  at 
some  distance  and  secure  the  bird  myself;  a 
consummation  which  apparently  entirely  satisfied 
him. 

At  the  feeding  time  this  burro  was  frequently 
one  of  the  party  of  animals  at  the  banquet,  and 
was  apparently  received  with  as  good  fellowship 
as  any  of  the  members  of  the  motley  company. 
On  the  days  when  not  in  use,  about  five  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  "  burro"  was  accustomed  to  come 
to  the  house  in  quest  of  the  ration  of  barley  which 
was  his  daily  portion.  One  could  almost  tell  the 
time  of  day  by  his  arrival.  Often  I  was  busy,  and 
if  the  desired  barley  was  not  forthcoming,  he 
would  call  me  with  a  low  whinny.  At  such 
times,  if  he  saw  me,  and  I  paid  no  attention  to 
the  first  intimation,  he  came  and  nudged  me  on 
the  arm.  If  I  continued  inattentive,  he  would 
nibble  gently  at  my  coat,  and  pull  it.  Further 
delay  occasioned  him  to  back  off  a  little  way  and 
to  utter  the  most  terrific  bray  imaginable ;  then  I 
knew  he  must  be  waited  on,  for  if  I  protracted 
the  event  further,  he  would  rush  up,  seize  me  by 
the  coat,  and  begin  to  drag  me  about.  I  often 
teased  him,  pretending  not  to  be  aware  of  his 
presence  until  the  last  possible  moment. 


SOUTHERN   ARIZONA  225 

Prietto,  for  such  was  his  name,  on  account  of 
his  color,  did  not  at  all  realize  the  conventional 
idea  of  a  donkey.  He  was  coal  black  in  color, 
which  shaded  into  fawn  on  parts  of  his  legs  and 
belly.  His  coat  was  short,  and  as  shiny  and 
satiny  as  that  of  most  horses ;  he  had  none  of  the 
straggling  hair  and  whiskers  associated  with  the 
face  of  an  ass.  To  be  sure,  his  ears  were  long, 
but  they  were  finely  shaped,  and  his  head  was  as 
beautiful  in  proportion  as  that  of  most  thorough- 
breds. He  was  the  type  of  the  best  kind  of  jack 
from  which  the  Spaniards  bred  their  famous  mules. 
His  endurance  was  great.  I  have  often  ridden 
him  forty  or  fifty  miles,  and  sometimes  as  much  as 
seventy  miles  in  a  day ;  our  ordinary  trips  covered 
anywhere  from  fifteen  to  thirty  miles.  With  all 
the  gaits  of  a  good  horse,  a  particularly  comfort- 
able single  foot  pace  was  one  of  his  characteristics. 
It  was  astonishing  how  much  ground  he  would 
cover  without  apparent  effort ;  in  company  with 
horses  he  always  kept  pace  with  the  party.  No 
hillside  was  too  difficult  for  this  sure-footed  beast, 
and  I  never  felt  the  least  alarm  when  riding 
him  over  precipitous  and  perilous  mountain  trails. 
I  had  not  a  very  good  seat  as  a  rider,  and  on 
several  occasions  when  frightened  by  a  snake  or 
some  unusual  object  "  burro  "  threw  me  as  he 
shied  violently  out  of  the  path.  Before  I  had  re- 
gained my  feet,  he  came  up  and  looked  me  over 
Q 


226  THE   STORY  OF  A   BIRD  LOVER 

as  if  to  say,  "  Well,  I  had  no  idea  you  would  get 
off  so  quick ;  better  get  on  again." 

Such  were  the  domestic  animals  about  the 
"  Little  Palace  of  Montezuma " ;  and  it  is  only 
necessary  to  speak  of  some  tame  orioles  and 
mocking-birds  to  complete  the  list.  These  birds, 
too,  though  they  had  cages,  were  allowed. to  go  in 
and  out  about  the  house  pretty  much  as  they 
pleased.  Frequently,  in  the  summer  time,  when 
reading  at  night  by  lamplight,  many  insects,  at- 
tracted by  the  light,  littered  the  table.  Then  one 
of  the  mocking-birds  would  spend  a  long  time 
satisfying  his  appetite  and  instinct,  catching  the 
deluded  beetles  and  moths  hovering  about.  This 
mocking-bird  was  caught  as  a  fledgling  when  he 
was  perhaps  four  weeks  old,  and  was  reared  by 
hand.  When  six  weeks  old,  two  Scott's  orioles 
were  taken  from  a  nest ;  these  were  little  fellows, 
just  beginning  to  show  feathers.  There  was  only 
a  single  cage,  and  they  were  put  into  it,  together 
with  the  young  mocking-bird.  Grasshoppers  were 
the  staple  food,  and  had  to  be  broken  and  fed  to 
the  fledgling  orioles.  The  mocking-bird  in  no  way 
objected  to  the  newcomers.  To  my  astonishment, 
in  a  few  days,  when  I  gave  him  a  grasshopper,  I 
saw  him  kill  it,  beat  it  to  pieces,  and  then  go  down 
to  the  two  little  orioles,  and  into  their  gaping 
mouths  place  the  fragments  as  a  parent  bird 
would  do.  From  this  time  on  it  was  not  neces- 


SOUTHERN   ARIZONA  227 

sary  for  me  to  feed  these  two  birds  by  hand.  All 
I  had  to  do  was  to  bring  a  few  live  grasshoppers 
at  intervals  to  the  cage.  The  mocking-bird  would 
first  supply  the  needs  of  the  two  orioles,  and  after 
he  was  assured  by  their  quiet  that  they  were  no 
longer  hungry,  he  would  attend  to  his  own  wants. 

We  lived  practically  in  the  open  air  during  the 
entire  year;  for  at  all  seasons,  with  the  mercury 
either  at  20°  or  90°  Fahrenheit,  the  crisp,  dry  air 
made  vigorous  exercise  a  delight.  Seldom  a  day 
passed  without  a  brisk  ride  across  the  foot-hills  to 
some  remote  canon,  or  a  gallop  on  the  open  mesas. 
Hours  in  the  saddle  brought  no  sense  of  fatigue. 

Distant  trips  to  the  summit  of  the  Catalinas 
entailed  somewhat  elaborate  preparations,  a  pack 
train  of  burros,  and  the  equipment  and  provisions 
for  a  stay  of  several  days.  However,  securely 
fastened  to  the  aparejo,  on  the  steepest  part  of  a 
trail,  one  or  more  of  the  burros  was  sure  to  slip 
his  burden  under  his  belly.  Then  followed  much 
vigorous  language  from  the  vaquero,  and  groans 
and  lamentations  on  the  part  of  the  aggravating 
donkey,  during  the  readjustment.  On  our  own 
saddles  various  latigoes  held  in  place  not  only 
blankets  and  extra  clothing,  but  the  tin  kettle, 
coffee-pot,  and  frying-pan  that  were  part  of  the 
accoutrement. 

Slowly  the  journey  was  made,  "poco,poco,poco? 
in  the  expressive  language  of  the  Mexican.  Strung 


228  THE  STORY  OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

out  for  half  a  mile  on  the  trail,  the  burros  and 
their  drivers  were  in  advance,  the  riding  party  in 
the  rear.  At  the  end  of  a  long  day  over  steep 
places,  following  the  dizzy  edge  of  a  precipitous 
gulch,  or  crawling  along  a  "  hog-back,"  the  end  of 
the  journey  was  reached.  Under  the  giant  pines, 
by  the  side  of  a  tumbling  mountain  brook,  camp 
was  made,  the  animals  turned  out  to  graze,  and 
a  savory  supper  of  flapjacks,  venison  steak,  and 
steaming  coffee  soon  prepared  by  the  skilful  hand 
of  our  jovial  cook  "  Billelyut,"  as  Castro  called  his 
Irish  son-in-law.  Then  followed  a  dreamless  sleep 
on  a  bed  of  fragrant  pine  branches,  under  the  star- 
lit sky ;  and  with  the  dawn  of  morning  we  awoke 
refreshed,  and  eager  to  begin  our  day's  explora- 
tion. 

I  will  now  endeavor  to  picture  something  of 
the  bird  life  out  of  doors  at  the  various  seasons, 
altitudes,  and  conditions  that  existed  on  the  sides 
of  these  mountains. 

Besides  the  orioles,  the  warmer  months  discov- 
ered just  at  the  "Little  Palace"  a  coterie  of 
feathered  denizens  to  which  I  can  do  little  more 
than  allude.  The  mocking-bird  was  of  course 
conspicuous ;  the  hepatic  tanager  bred  in  the 
live  oak  trees  and  Boucard's  sparrow  was  the 
commonest  finch  inhabiting  the  grassy  slopes. 
Throughout  the  deep  ravines  were  many  rock- 
wrens,  while  the  little  canon  wren  sang  its  un- 


SOUTHERN   ARIZONA  229 

rivalled  song  from  some  point  of  vantage  on  the 
face  of  every  precipice. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  humming-birds,  but  per- 
haps have  not  given  an  adequate  idea  of  their 
abundance.  A  kind  of  thistle  that  bloomed  at 
midsummer  on  the  hillsides  in  patches  was 
thronged  by  these  tiny  jewels.  There  were  eight 
kinds  present  in  incredible  numbers,  and  these 
were  represented  during  midsummer  in  every  stage 
of  plumage. 

The  gray  vireo,  heretofore  known  by  but  few 
specimens,  was  very  abundant,  and  bred  com- 
monly. For  a  paper  in  regard  to  the  breeding 
habits  of  this  bird,  together  with  notes  in  respect 
to  its  marked  tameness,  the  reader  is  referred  to 
the  appended  bibliography.  The  least  vireo  was 
a  common  visitor  and  summer  resident,  and  the 
plumbeous  vireo,  as  well  as  the  western  warbling 
vireo,  was  plentiful,  while  Cassin's  vireo  also  was 
observed  as  a  migrant.  The  Phai'nopepla  retired 
to  lower  altitudes  in  the  winter,  but  many  bred 
here;  and  again  reference  is  made  to  the  bibli- 
ography. The  purple  martin,  cliff,  barn,  and  violet 
green  swallows  were  present  in  numbers  in  their 
season ;  while  the  tree-swallow,  the  rough-winged 
swallow,  and  the  bank-swallow  were  little  more  than 
casual.  The  white-throated  swift  migrated  in  large 
companies,  and  sometimes  appeared  during  winter. 
Vaux's  swift  was  met  with  on  a  single  occasion. 


230  THE   STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

The  Texan  night-hawk  and  the  western  night-hawk 
both  occurred  in  the  hills,  and  the  poor-will  as 
well  as  the  Arizona  whippoorwill  may  be  men- 
tioned. Woodpeckers  were  singularly  numerous. 
Harris's,  Gairdner's,  the  Texan,  and  the  Arizona 
woodpecker  frequented  the  live-oaks ;  as  did  more 
rarely  the  red-naped  sapsucker ;  Lewis's  wood- 
pecker was  a  migrant  on  the  mountain  sides,  and 
in  the  fall  great  flocks  of  these  were  always 
present ;  while  the  Gila  woodpecker  and  the  red- 
shafted  flicker  were  resident,  the  one  locally  and 
the  other  widely  distributed.  In  the  higher 
country  these  species  were  augmented  by  the 
California  and  Williamson's  woodpecker;  and  in 
some  regions,  where  the  giant  cactus  abounded, 
the  gilded  flicker  was  by  no  means  uncommon. 

Among  the  birds  of  prey  may  be  mentioned 
the  turkey  vulture,  the  marsh-hawk,  sharp-shinned 
hawk,  Cooper's  hawk,  Harris's  hawk,  the  western 
red-tailed  hawk,  Swainson's  hawk,  all  of  which 
occurred  either  as  migrants  or  as  breeding  birds 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  "  Little  Palace."  From  the 
piazza  I  watched  two  golden  eagles  repairing 
their  nest  early  in  November,  and  these  birds 
were  a  constant  feature  in  the  panorama  of  bird 
life.  I  have  seen  them  catch  large  jack-rabbits, 
and  carry  such  animals  away  to  their  eyrie  with 
apparent  ease.  The  Arizona  jay  was  a  common 
resident  and  bred  in  the  live  oaks,  and  Wood- 


SOUTHERN   ARIZONA  231 

house's  jay  was  notable  in  the  same  way  on  the 
hillsides,  in  thickets  of  "  cat-claw."  Steller's  jay, 
noticeable  at  all  times  in  the  pine  forests  on  the 
summit  of  the  range,  visited,  as  did  the  pifion  jay, 
the  vicinity  of  the  house  in  fall  and  winter.  There 
were  many  ducks  on  the  San  Pedro  during  the 
migrations,  and  rails,  ibises,  and  herons  were  fre- 
quent about  the  pools  of  that  river.  Space  does 
not  avail  for  a  fuller  enumeration.  My  papers  on 
the  subject  set  forth  in  great  detail  the  result  of 
observations  made  here.  The  pine  forest  on  the 
summit  of  the  Sierra  Santa  Catalina  was  prolific 
in  bird  life.  This  was  of  great  interest,  revealing 
such  rare  birds  as  the  olive  warbler,  Stephen's 
vireo,  the  painted  redstart,  and  the  red-faced 
warbler.  Wild  turkeys  gathered  here  in  great 
bands.  In  addition,  crossbills,  evening  grosbeaks, 
hermit-thrushes,  and  several  kinds  of  snowbirds 
bred  at  this  high  altitude. 

Nor  must  it  be  forgotten  that,  outside  of  all 
this  bird  life,  other  animals  were  conspicuous. 
Lizards  of  brilliant  hues  and  various  sizes  basked 
in  the  sun  on  the  hot  rocks,  inflating  brilliant 
pouches  under  their  throats,  and  seeming  the 
concentration  of  heat  and  fire.  From  what  I 
have  written  it  is  evident  that  the  rattlesnake 
was  by  no  means  uncommon ;  yet  I  would  not 
convey  the  idea  to  any  one  that  there  was  asso- 
ciated with  the  presence  of  these  snakes  a  large 


232  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

element  of  danger ;  and  here  I  think  I  must  dwell 
on  the  fact  that  most  of  us  exaggerate  in  our 
minds  peril,  not  only  from  rattlesnakes,  but  from 
snakes  in  general.  I  heard  rattlesnakes  much 
more  frequently  than  I  saw  them ;  perhaps  I  did 
not  see  more  than  fifteen  during  my  whole  five 
years'  stay  in  this  region ;  for  by  day  these  ser- 
pents are  sluggish,  and  it  is  at  night  that  they 
travel  most.  Their  presence,  too,  is  apparent 
only  during  the  warmer  portions  of  the  year ; 
and  from  October  until  April  to  hear  or  to  see 
one  was  unusual.  It  was  generally  at  night-time 
that  the  horses  were  alarmed  by  "  rattlers  "  crawl- 
ing in  the  trail,  and  it  was  then  that  I  frequently 
heard  them.  Days  and  months  passed  by  with- 
out seeing  this  or  any  other  kind  of  snake ;  and 
yet  I  suppose  there  are  as  many  rattlesnakes  in 
this  part  of  Arizona  as  at  any  place.  Nor  have 
I  been  able  to  learn  of  an  authentic  case  of  snake- 
bite in  this  territory  resulting  fatally.  It  does 
seem  that  our  dogs,  running  all  over  the  country 
as  they  did,  would  have  suffered  in  this  respect ; 
but  they  were  never  bitten  nor  did  I  learn  of 
others  having  suffered. 

Foremost  among  the  lizards  was  that  famous 
animal,  the  Gila  monster.  This  is  a  repellent- 
looking  creature ;  but  again  from  experience  I  be- 
lieve that  danger  from  it  is  practically  nil.  This 
lizard  I  saw  more  frequently  than  the  rattlesnake. 


SOUTHERN   ARIZONA  233 

The  Gila  monster  is  a  large,  sluggish,  thick, 
stumpy  lizard  of  an  orange  color,  decorated  with 
black  and  brown,  and  often  attains  a  length  of 
more  than  two  feet.  One  met  with  them  in  dry 
washes  or  on  some  arid  point  on  the  mesa,  and, 
unlike  any  of  the  other  lizards,  they  were  ex- 
tremely slow  in  their  motions,  reminding  me 
always  of  turtles  by  their  gait  and  deliberation 
in  moving.  When  approached,  they  made  no 
attempt  to  escape,  but  would  lie  still  and  inflate 
themselves  and  hiss,  opening  the  mouth  and 
darting  out  the  forked  tongue,  so  rapidly  as  to 
resemble  small  flames. 

The  legends  which  the  Mexicans  narrated,  re- 
garding the  poisonous  qualities  of  this  animal, 
and  their  evident  dread  of  contact  with  one,  do 
not  seem  to  be  borne  out  by  the  facts,  as  will 
presently  be  shown.  However,  for  the  sake  of 
those  who  have  not  heard  such  tales,  I  will  recite 
an  incident  that  occurred  to  a  u  friend  of  a  friend 
of  a  friend  "  of  Castro.  Castro  told  it  to  me  him- 
self. He  said  that  this  friend  of  his  friend's  friend 
made  a  camp  one  night  in  a  dry  wash  shortly 
after  dark,  spread  his  blankets  on  the  ground, 
and,  being  overcome  by  the  journey  of  the  day, 
was  soon  sound  asleep.  Now,  he  did  not  arrive, 
as  was  expected,  at  the  point  to  which  he  was 
travelling;  after  a  day's  waiting,  which  the 
Mexicans  would  consider  great  haste,  a  party 


234  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

started  out  in  search  of  him.  They  found  him 
in  the  dry  wash  seemingly  asleep  on  his 
blankets,  but  when  they  attempted  to  arouse 
him,  they  discovered  that  he  was  dead.  Uncov- 
ering his  body,  they  raised  it  from  the  ground 
and  began  to  roll  up  the  blankets  preparatory  to 
carrying  them  and  the  dead  man  to  a  suitable 
place  for  burial.  These  blankets,  for  the  purpose 
of  comfort,  were  laid  on  the  ground  to  the  extent 
of  five  thicknesses,  and  when  the  last  was  lifted, 
a  Gila  monster  was  discovered  lying  between  it 
and  the  sand.  The  mystery  was  then  clear  to  the 
searchers,  and  they  repaired  to  the  ranch  with  the 
body.  Arriving  at  the  point,  and  preparing  the 
corpse  for  burial,  they  discovered  on  the  man's 
back,  outlined  in  red  and  decorated  in  many  fan- 
tastic colors,  the  exact  imprint  and  picture  of  the 
Gila  monster  on  which  he  had  lain.  I  was  not 
able  to  ascertain  that  he  had  been  bitten,  but 
Castro  informed  me  that  that  was  not  an  essential 
or  important  factor  in  the  case ;  for,  he  said :  "  It 
is  only  necessary  to  be  in  the  neighborhood  of  one 
of  these  monsters,  and  if  it  does  as  much  as  breathe 
upon  you  or  your  clothing,  there  is  no  power  of 
medicine  or  grace  of  God  that  can  save  you  from 
certain  death." 

This  is  only  one  of  many  stories  of  similar 
character  which  I  had  related  to  me  by  various 
people  at  sundry  times  during  my  residence  in 


SOUTHERN   ARIZONA  235 

Arizona.  My  personal  experience  absolutely  be- 
lies them  all.  For  instance,  I  had  in  Tucson 
a  pet  Gila  monster,  which  lived  in  our  room  at 
large  for  a  period  of  three  months.  It  had  exca- 
vated in  one  corner  of  the  adobe  wall,  behind  an 
olla,  a  little  hole  to  which  it  retired;  but  daily  it 
appeared,  crawling  about  the  floor,  and  I  have  fre- 
quently held  it  in  my  hands,  stroking  it  and  ex- 
amining it  closely  for  long  periods.  It  was  fed 
occasionally  upon  an  egg,  which  for  this  purpose 
was  broken  into  a  saucer  and  presented  to  the 
animal,  which  would  lap  it  much  as  a  dog  or  a  cat 
does  milk.  Then  "monster"  would  retire  to  sleep 
in  the  "  burrow,"  and  might  not  appear  again  for 
twenty-four  or  forty-eight  hours. 

One  day  when  Mary  was  sweeping  the  room  the 
Gila  monster  lay  in  the  middle  of  the  floor  bask- 
ing in  a  patch  of  sunshine  in  his  usual  indolent 
and  sluggish  fashion,  and  Mary,  being  in  a  hurry, 
grabbed  him  up  quickly  to  place  him  to  one  side 
out  of  the  way,  whereupon  he  seized  her  by  the 
thumb,  which  he  grasped  and  bit  until  the  blood 
ran.  In  her  efforts  to  rid  herself  of  him,  for 
he  was  holding  on  tight,  she  tore  away  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  skin.  Of  this  happening  we 
were  not  aware  at  the  time,  and  it  was  only 
after  several  hours  that,  noticing  Mary  with  her 
thumb  done  up  in  a  bandage,  I  asked  how  she  had 
cut  her  finger.  She  answered  in  the  most  non- 


236  THE   STORY  OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

chalant  way  that  she  had  been  bitten  by  the  Gila 
monster,  and  seemed  to  consider  it  a  matter  of 
slight  importance.  I  was  somewhat  worried, 
because  I  had  heard  so  much  of  the  deadly  results 
that  ensued  on  such  a  bite,  and  applied  such 
remedies  as  were  at  hand,  but  kept  my  fears  to 
myself.  She  suffered  no  inconvenience,  more  than 
one  would  from  any  scratch  or  cut,  and  in  a  few 
days  her  thumb  was  healed,  and  all  traces  of  the 
wound  disappeared  within  a  week. 

I  had  these  animals  about  the  house  for  months 
at  a  time,  and  while  I  never  thrust  my  ringers  into 
their  mouth  to  be  bitten,  I  handled  them,  as  I  have 
said,  much  as  I  would  a  dog  or  a  cat.  After  a 
while  they  always  became  tame.  They  frequently 
emitted  the  blowing,  hissing  noise,  and  darted  out 
the  forked  tongue  when  disturbed  ;  otherwise  I 
have  not  seen  them  offer  to  be  in  any  way  harmful. 

Among  the  insects  the  tarantula  was  not  un- 
common ;  but  this  spider  has  been  so  often  de- 
scribed by  writers  that  further  discussion  of  it 
seems  unnecessary.  Truly,  it  is  a  hideous  brute, 
with  its  long  hairy  coat  and  evil-looking  face ! 
Centipedes  about  three  inches  long  were  numer- 
ous ;  with  these  two  examples  I  think  I  have 
enumerated  the  insect  horrors  of  the  region,  and 
I  have  never  met  with  any  one  who  suffered 
serious  discomfort  or  injury  inflicted  by  either  of 
these  animals. 


SOUTHERN   ARIZONA  237 

Four-footed  creatures  abounded ;  I  have  spoken 
of  the  deer  and  the  bear,  of  which  there  were 
many  representatives,  the  former  often  gathering 
in  large  bands.  The  common  deer  of  the  hill- 
sides was  the  white-tailed  deer,  and  that  of  the 
mesas  and  lower  altitudes  was  the  black-tailed  or 
burro  deer.  On  the  plains,  where  they  had  not 
been  exterminated  by  constant  hunting,  antelopes 
were  still  plentiful.  In  every  considerable  region 
of  prickly  pear,  especially  in  the  vicinity  of  water, 
bands  of  peccaries  congregated,  sometimes  as  many 
as  seventy-five  or  a  hundred  individuals  being 
together.  I  have  seen  these  wild  pigs  on  many 
occasions,  and  have  frequently  been  on  foot  among 
them ;  while  I  have  had  dogs  severely  handled  by 
wounded  animals,  or  by  one  at  bay,  the  peccary 
did  not  bear  out,  as  it  occurs  here,  the  stories 
narrated  of  it.  Now  and  again  I  have  met  a 
solitary  sow  with  a  litter  of  young,  and  on  one 
occasion  caught  two  of  the  little  fellows  and 
brought  them  with  me  to  the  house.  Even  then 
the  mother  did  not  resent  the  robbery  any  more, 
and  not  as  much,  as  most  domesticated  pigs 
would. 

On  the  San  Pedro,  near  the  termination  of  the 
mouth  of  the  Old  Hat  canon,  was  a  very  consid- 
erable lake  made  by  a  fine  beaver  dam.  This  was 
the  resort  of  many  ducks  and  wild  fowl  during 
the  migration.  It  was  difficult  to  see  a  beaver, 


238  THE   STORY   OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

though  their  presence  was  evident,  and  the  only 
sure  way  to  accomplish  this  was  by  a  long  visit  on 
some  bright  moonlight  night.  Then,  the  watcher, 
sitting  absolutely  quiet  on  the  bank,  would  see 
numbers  of  beavers  appear  and  proceed  with  their 
ordinary  avocations,  but  they  were  so  alert  that 
the  slightest  motion  or  noise  on  the  part  of  the 
observer  was  at  once  perceived  and  caused  the 
animals  to  retire,  when  it  was  useless  to  wait  for 
their  return. 

Skunks  of  three  kinds  were  numerous ;  and  I 
have  spoken  of  coyotes.  There  were  many  foxes 
and  wildcats,  and  the  mountain-lion  or  panther 
was  by  no  means  unusual.  I  have  seen  all  of 
these  animals  alive  many  times,  and  have  killed 
representatives  of  most  of  them.  One  of  the 
prettiest  wild  creatures  of  the  region  was  a  little 
beast  known  to  the  natives  as  the  civet  cat;  it 
was  twice  as  large  as  a  gray  squirrel,  with  beauti- 
ful fur,  a  foxlike  head,  large,  intelligent  eyes,  and 
a  bushy  banded  tail  of  white  and  brown  that  made 
a  fine  contrast  to  its  silky  fur.  It  was  nocturnal 
in  habit,  and  was  to  be  obtained  only  by  trapping, 
or  by  searching  in  caves  or  hollow  trees  where  it 
slept  during  the  day. 

The  bears  spoken  of  were  the  cinnamon 
variety,  much  larger  than  our  black  bear  of  the 
East,  and  known  generally  to  the  natives  as 
"grizzlies."  One  that  I  killed  in  the  Finals  was 


SOUTHERN    ARIZONA  239 

estimated,  by  a  quarter  that  was  weighed,  to  ex- 
ceed eight  hundred  pounds.  At  places  in  the 
mountains  the  trails  that  these  bears  made,  in 
passing  from  the  manzanita  thickets  where  they 
slept  in  the  daytime  to  the  live-oak  forests  where 
they  fed  on  acorns  at  night,  looked  like  well-worn 
highways,  and  the  number  of  animals  that  wore 
such  beaten  paths  must  have  been  great. 

I  have  encountered  all  of  these  animals,  and 
here  again  must  speak  of  the  element  of  danger. 
In  all  my  experience  in  hunting  out  of  doors,  I 
have  yet  to  see  the  beast  that  would  not  go  its 
own  way  if  left  alone.  The  very  rat  or  mouse 
when  cornered  will  fight,  and  so  will  a  grizzly 
bear  or  a  deer,  and  perhaps  any  other  creature. 
I  have  never  seen  one,  and  I  include  them  all,  — 
snakes,  alligators,  wildcats,  mountain-lions,  pec- 
caries, and  grizzly  bears,  —  that  would  not,  if  un- 
molested, pursue  its  own  way  without  manifesting 
interest  in  the  presence  of  the  individual  who  had 
intruded. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  in  this  part  of  Arizona 
there  are  two  spring  seasons  during  every  year. 
These  follow  the  rainy  periods,  as  I  shall  pres- 
ently show.  In  January  and  February  there  is  a 
considerable  precipitation;  late  in  February  and 
early  in  March  the  ground  has  become  sufficiently 
damp  for  the  various  seeds,  that  have  been  lying 
ready  to  sprout,  to  germinate,  and  presently  the 


240  THE   STORY   OF   A  BIRD   LOVER 

arid  mesas  and  desert  plains  are  decked  with  a 
coat  of  verdure.  Then,  on  the  lower  deserts  the 
California  poppy  blooms  in  great  luxuriance,  so 
that  the  country,  viewed  from  some  little  eleva- 
tion, presents  a  vast  prospect  covered  with  a 
golden  crop,  —  a  field  of  cloth  of  gold,  for  the 
flowers  are  not  dissociated  or  in  groups,  but  are 
distributed  evenly  over  the  entire  area. 

The  rainfall  is  never  of  long  duration,  at  most 
not  more  than  four  or  five  hours,  and  it  occurs 
generally  at  night.  It  comes  more  in  the  form 
of  a  showery  day  or  night,  and  such  a  thing  as  a 
real  rainy  day  I  have  never  seen  in  this  part  of 
Arizona.  By  the  last  of  March  the  rapid  evapo- 
ration has  dried  the  surface  again,  and  the  power- 
ful sunshine  soon  burns  and  browns  the  verdure, 
so  that  by  the  middle  of  April  or  the  first  of  May 
the  only  evidence  of  the  luxuriant  vegetable 
growth  that  had  carpeted  the  ground  is  to  be 
found  in  the  dried  grasses  and  flowers  which 
have  gone  to  seed.  The  whole  surface  is  now 
quite  as  brown,  bare-looking,  and  more  arid  than 
in  mid-winter.  Late  in  June,  and  for  part  of 
July,  there  is  a  shorter  rain  period,  which  gen- 
erally occurs  annually,  but  in  some  seasons  is 
very  slight.  This  rainy  season  may  last  for  three 
or  four  weeks,  and  is  characterized  by  the  same 
succession  of  showers,  of  even  shorter  duration 
than  those  that  occur  in  the  late  winter  months. 


SOUTHERN   ARIZONA  241 

After  this  rain  the  country  again  presents  for  a 
brief  period  a  most  luxuriant  vegetable  growth 
of  grasses  and  flowers.  Chief  among  the  latter 
is  a  kind  of  convolvulus,  which,  when  in  bloom, 
covers  the  plain  about  the  middle  of  July  with  a 
blue  carpet  rivalling  the  gold  of  the  poppies  in 
March.  Coincident  with  this,  the  yucca  raises  its 
white  stalk  of  waxen  bells,  and  the  whole  presents 
a  scene  the  very  antithesis  of  one's  idea  of  a  desert 
country. 

A  short  sketch  of  a  friend  who  was  of  great  ser- 
vice to  me  in  many  ways  during  my  long  stay  in 
the  Santa  Catalinas  will  round  out  the  story  of 
that  region.  He  was  conversant  with  every  part 
of  this  wilderness,  and  as  a  hunter  had  few  equals. 
While  he  spoke  no  English,  he  taught  me  the 
Spanish  dialect  of  the  country.  I  came  to  know 
the  local  birds  and  their  habits,  and  learned  the 
musical  Spanish  names  that  really  seem  to  belong 
to  the  beautiful  creatures,  when  Castro  went  with 
me  afield. 

The  conception  that  most  of  us  have  of  the 
swarthy  Mexican  is  conventional,  and  is  in  a 
general  way  correct.  They  are  lithe,  dark-skinned 
men,  with  straight,  black  hair,  and  eyes  like  sloes. 
Gay  and  debonair  in  manner,  they  are  nervous 
and  excitable,  and  generous  and  hospitable  to  a 
fault,  but  withal  improvident.  Jesus  Maria  Castro 
was  in  appearance  the  exception  that  proves  the 


242  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

rule.  He  was  of  the  blue-eyed,  golden-haired 
Castilian  type  that  few  of  us  associate  with  that 
people.  Moreover,  his  hair  was  wavy,  a  quality 
even  more  noticeable  in  his  flowing  beard.  A 
man  of  romantic  disposition,  of  great  kindliness, 
and  prodigal  generosity,  he  had  never  saved 
for  himself  out  of  all  his  earnings  nor  from  his 
opportunities  any  property.  When  I  knew  Cas- 
tro he  lived  with  his  wife  and  younger  children 
in  a  rude  adobe  cabin  of  a  single  room.  I  never 
rode  by  the  door  of  Castro's  cabin  but  that  the 
Senora  came  out,  greeted  me  profusely,  begging 
me  to  alight  and  rest  myself  in  the  shade  of 
her  piazza.  When  I  had  complied,  she  always 
informed  me  that  everything  she  had  belonged 
to  me,  and  began  immediately  to  dispense  such 
entertainment  as  was  possible.  This  generally 
consisted  of  a  cup  of  tea  and  tortillas,  sometimes 
supplemented  by  some  little  dainty  that  she  had 
kept  for  an  event  of  this  kind. 

As  I  sat  in  the  shade  of  the  rude  piazza  con- 
sisting of  four  posts  overlaid  by  branches  gath- 
ered from  the  trees,  I  felt  that  a  great  privilege 
was  granted  me.  Never  have  I  been  enter- 
tained with  better  intent ;  and  though  I  realized 
that  the  tea  which  I  was  drinking  was  made  of 
grasses  and  herbs  gathered  not  far  away,  and 
probably  only  a  little  while  before  I  dismounted ; 
that  the  flour  of  which  the  cakes  were  made 


SOUTHERN   ARIZONA  243 

might  be  the  last  in  the  bag ;  and  while  the  cup 
was  generally  saucerless  and  often  cracked,  all 
this  did  not  detract  from  the  favor  which  was 
conferred.  Looking  inside  the  house  I  could 
see  the  bare  mud  walls  and  ceiling,  the  one  bed, 
the  meagre  cooking  apparatus,  and  the  few  chick- 
ens which  were  an  inevitable  part  of  a  Mexican 
establishment ;  for  they  occupied  the  interior  of 
the  house  jointly  with  the  proprietors.  The 
family  were  very  poor ;  but  I  think  I  have  never 
seen  happier  people;  they  were  like  children  in 
their  irresponsibility.  Yet,  when  I  knew  them, 
Castro  often  informed  me  that  he  had  seen  worse 
times ;  and  when  I  first  spoke  to  him  of  the  pos- 
sibility of  bettering  his  condition,  he  smiled  and 
then  related  to  me  the  following  story.  This 
occurred  on  one  of  our  hunting  trips  together, 
and  we  participated  in  many. 

He  said  that  some  six  or  seven  years  before, 
when  employment  in  the  country  was  difficult  to 
obtain,  he  realized  as  he  went  to  bed  one  night 
that  all  the  available  provision  for  his  family  was 
consumed ;  in  short,  there  was  absolutely  nothing 
for  breakfast  the  following  morning.  I  can  well 
imagine  that  he  went  to  bed,  as  he  told  me,  some- 
what depressed ;  but  I  do  not  believe  that,  even 
under  these  circumstances,  he  lay  long  awake. 
However,  he  went  on  to  state  that,  after  having 
slept  some  time,  he  awoke  and  went  to  the  door 


244  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

of  the  cabin,  where  he  perceived  by  the  situation 
of  the  constellations  of  stars  and  other  phenom- 
ena of  the  heavens,  with  which  he  was  familiar, 
that  it  was  about  an  hour  before  daylight ;  and  it 
occurred  to  him  that  probably  the  best  way  to 
supply  the  lacking  breakfast  was  to  take  his  rifle 
and  the  few  remaining  cartridges  which  he  pos- 
sessed, and  go  in  quest  of  a  deer  or  other  game. 
Going  to  the  rack  on  which  hung  his  gun  and 
ammunition  he  took  them  down,  performed  such 
a  hurried  toilet  as  time  allowed  him,  and  imme- 
diately started  forth.  He  narrated  to  me  in  great 
detail  the  route  which  he  traversed.  This  led  him 
over  a  path  with  which  I  had  become  well  ac- 
quainted, as  we  had  often  ridden  over  it  together. 
Few  people  in  this  country  walk,  but  this  time 
Castro  was  on  foot ;  for  even  the  horse,  which  is 
a  Mexican's  last  property  to  be  sacrificed,  had  been 
parted  with.  After  passing  over  some  two  miles 
of  the  trail  he  arrived  at  a  point  where,  from 
the  bottom  of  the  arroyo,  the  grassy  hills  covered 
with  live-oaks  rose  on  either  side.  Pausing  at 
this  spot,  the  gray  of  dawn  was  sufficient  for  him 
to  distinguish  a  fine  buck  feeding  on  fallen  acorns 
under  one  of  the  oaks  on  the  hillside.  He  was 
not  at  all  nervous,  took  very  deliberate  aim,  fired, 
and  the  deer  fell.  He  then  climbed  the  ascent, 
cut  the  animal's  throat,  hung  the  carcass  in  the 
nearest  tree,  disembowelled  it,  so  that  it  might 


SOUTHERN   ARIZONA  245 

cool,  and  now,  tired  from  his  successful  effort, 
he  waited  a  while  to  rest,  before  returning.  He 
seated  himself  on  the  nearest  boulder,  took  from 
his  pouch  his  paper  and  tobacco,  and  leisurely 
rolled  the  inevitable  cigarette  with  which  the 
Mexican  passes  every  moment  of  quiet  and  many 
of  action.  He  described  the  whole  process  of 
making  the  cigarette,  striking  the  light,  and  his 
enjoyment  of  the  first  whiffs  of  the  consoling 
weed. 

Every  man,  and  especially  every  Mexican  who 
lives  in  this  part  of  the  world,  is  a  practical  geol- 
ogist and  mineralogist,  and  one  of  the  most 
natural  actions  is  to  break  and  chip  away  bits  of 
any  rock  near  at  hand,  to  see  what  mineral  proper- 
ties, if  any,  it  may  possess.  After  rolling  his  ciga- 
rette, mechanically  Castro  did  what  I  have  seen  him 
do  many  times.  Reaching  down  he  grasped  the 
nearest  fragment  of  rock,  and  began  to  chip  away 
a  corner  of  the  boulder  on  which  he  sat.  The 
first  bit  that  was  broken  from  it  disclosed  a  mass 
of  silver. 

At  that  moment,  before  he  had  time  to  ex- 
amine the  treasure  further,  some  slight  noise 
awoke  him,  and  he  knew  it  was  all  a  dream.  But 
he  was  now  really  awake.  Going  to  the  door 
as  he  had  done  in  his  dream,  he  perceived  by  the 
situation  of  the  stars  in  the  heavens  that  the  day 
was  not  far  distant,  and  he  resolved  to  fulfil  every 


246  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

detail  of  the  vision.  Taking  down  his  rifle  he 
tried  to  do  so  with  exactly  the  same  movement, 
he  clothed  himself  in  precisely  the  same  way,  he 
set  out  on  the  trail,  going,  as  nearly  as  he  could, 
the  same  gait.  Arriving  after  some  time  at  the 
arroyo,  he  paused,  looked  up  on  the  hillside  in 
the  first  gray  of  the  dawn,  and  there,  under  the 
oak  tree,  he  perceived  standing  a  fine  buck.  With 
great  deliberation  he  aimed,  and  fired.  The  ani- 
mal fell.  Climbing  the  ascent  he  cut  the  dead 
deer's  throat  and  hung  the  carcass  in  the  nearest 
tree,  disembowelled  it,  and  sat  down  on  an  adja- 
cent boulder  to  rest  himself  while  it  cooled.  Then 
from  his  pouch  he  took  his  tobacco  and  paper, 
and  proceeded  to  make  his  cigarette.  Doing  all 
this  with  great  care  and  deliberation,  he  lighted 
it,  and  after  enjoying  a  few  whiffs,  he  leaned  over, 
picked  up  a  small  piece  of  rock,  and  chipped  off 
the  corner  of  the  boulder  on  which  he  was  sitting. 
It  was,  not  pure  silver,  but  almost  entirely  virgin 
gold. 

What  Castro  did  in  the  next  hour  he  could  not 
describe  coherently ;  for  a  short  time  he  doubtless 
lost  his  wits.  Great  rocks  of  pure  gold  are  not 
frequent  in  the  Sierra.  To  Senora  Castro  I  am 
indebted  for  a  description  of  her  husband  on  his 
return  to  the  cabin,  shortly  after  sunrise.  She 
said  he  appeared  to  her  coming  down  the  side  of 
the  hill  clothed  only  in  his  shirt  and  shoes ;  upon 


SOUTHERN   ARIZONA  247 

his  back  he  carried  what  seemed  to  be  two  bags, 
that  were  in  reality  his  trousers.  He  had  tied 
up  the  bottom  of  each  leg  and  filled  it  with 
the  golden  fragments  of  the  boulder  which  by 
some  means  he  had  broken  to  pieces.  He  had 
also  brought  with  him  a  small  portion  of  the  deer, 
upon  which  they  made  a  hearty  breakfast.  Then 
taking  his  small  son,  Sisto,  with  him,  and  better 
equipped  than  on  his  first  expedition,  he  revisited 
the  scene  of  his  labor.  By  twelve  o'clock  he  had 
again  returned  with  all  of  the  remaining  portions 
of  the  boulder,  as  well  as  the  carcass  of  the  deer. 

I  shall  now  go  on  with  the  narrative  of  what 
ensued  as  he  recounted  it  to  me ;  and  the  strangest 
part  of  the  story  is  that,  whether  or  no  he  had  the 
vision,  the  reality  was  actual.  The  cashier  of  one 
of  the  banks  in  Tucson  assured  me  that  the  insti- 
tution had  paid  to  Castro  twenty-seven  hundred 
dollars  in  gold  for  the  results  of  his  half  day's 
work.  Many  of  the  fragments  were  kept  by  the 
discoverer  as  specimens  of  "  gold  in  the  quartz." 
Even  at  the  period  of  our  friendship  Castro  still 
held  on  to  a  few  of  these. 

But  to  go  on  with  his  own  story.  He  said  he 
now  realized  what  it  was  to  be  a  rich  man,  and 
he  began  to  consider  what  his  duties  to  himself 
and  his  family  might  properly  be.  Among  these 
he  conceived  that  the  education  of  his  children 
was  paramount,  and  decided  to  make  this  his 


248  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

chief  end.  Further,  he  thought  it  behooved  him 
to  celebrate  so  great  an  event  by  a  fiesta  of 
modest  proportions,  and  to  accomplish  both  these 
ends  he  journeyed  with  his  children  and  family 
to  the  city  of  Tucson. 

Here  he  rented  a  small  house,  and  summoning 
all  his  co-madres  and  com-padres  together,  the 
fiesta  was  duly  inaugurated,  and  the  children  were 
put  to  school.  There  does  not  seem  to  be  any 
institution  among  people  in  other  parts  of  the 
world,  or  any  relationship,  that  compares  with  or 
is  like  the  bond  which  the  Mexican  expresses  by 
the  terms  co-madre  and  com-padre.  Perhaps  it  is 
enough  to  say  that  it  embraces  all  kinsmen,  inti- 
mate friends  as  well  as  others,  not  only  those  to 
whom  obligation  is  felt,  but  also  many  who  are 
obligated.  I  leave  the  imagination  of  the  reader 
to  depict  the  royal  manner  in  which  Castro  at  this 
time  must  have  dispensed  his  hospitality.  Rumors 
of  it  have  reached  me  through  his  son-in-law,  one 
Billy  Elliott,  a  giant,  red-haired  Irishman,  a  happy- 
go-lucky  nomad  who  had  travelled  far  as  a  rolling 
stone,  and  had  finally  settled  down  to  the  occupa- 
tion of  a  miner  and  prospector  in  this  remote 
region.  His  description  was  both  florid  and 
graphic. 

But  alas  for  good  intentions  !  Prosperity  thus 
acquired  is  traditional  for  its  evanescence.  It  is 
said  that  all  the  "  forty-niners  "  who  retained  their 


SOUTHERN   ARIZONA  249 

wealth  for  any  lasting  period  can  be  enumerated 
on  the  fingers  of  one  hand.  Fortune  so  easily 
acquired  seems  endless,  and  its  disbursement  is 
not  heeded  till  accomplished. 

Castro  was  no  exception.  How  long  the  fiesta 
lasted  I  do  not  know.  The  "  education  "  of  the 
children  was  completed  with  a  rapidity  that  prob- 
ably satisfied  the  recipients.  In  short,  in  a  few 
months  Castro  and  his  family  returned  to  the 
little  cabin  in  the  Sierra,  perhaps  wiser,  and 
certainly  happy.  They  were  always  that.  But 
the  gold  found  in  the  boulder  had  all  vanished ; 
and  future  efforts  on  the  part  of  Castro  and 
others  to  find  the  ledge  from  which  it  had 
"floated"  proved  unavailing. 

I  have  told  these  stories  of  this  man,  with 
whom  I  was  constantly  thrown  during  three 
years,  for  two  purposes.  First,  that  one  may 
get  an  idea  of  the  general  air  of  romance  that 
prevails  among  the  people;  for,  while  I  am  per- 
suaded that  the  incident  is  substantially  correct, 
the  glamour  thrown  over  it  by  the  description, 
and  the  wealth  of  the  language  in  which  it  was 
expressed,  adds  greatly  to  the  narrative,  which 
seems  to  me,  as  I  have  told  it  in  English,  to  lack 
the  vitality  and  picturesqueness  of  the  Spanish  in 
which  it  was  recited  by  Castro.  Second,  to  im- 
press the  fact  that  the  vicissitudes  of  fortune  are 
borne  by  this  people  with  fortitude  and  a  good 


250  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

philosophy.  The  Mexican  may  be  always  glad  to 
postpone  coming  events  to  the  "manana,"  but  he 
does  not  waste  energy  in  retrospective  regrets. 
What  has  happened  may  afford  theme  for  ro- 
mance, but  does  not  furnish  basis  for  idle  be- 
moaning of  "  better  days.". 

The  experiences  in  the  mountains  and  deserts 
of  Arizona  related  in  the  preceding  pages  in- 
volved a  period  of  some  four  years.  There  were 
slight  breaks,  such  as  I  have  mentioned,  when  I 
visited  the  East ;  but  practically  all  the  time  from 
the  spring  of  1882  until  the  spring  of  1886  was 
spent  in  this  region.  I  have  referred  to  a  year's 
leave  of  absence  granted  me  by  the  trustees  of 
Princeton  College.  At  the  end  of  this  time  I 
deemed  it  best  to  tender  my  resignation,  and  to 
devote  myself  to  the  business  interests  of  which 
I  have  spoken. 

From  this  time  on,  that  is,  from  the  winter  of 
1883,  it  must  not  be  inferred  that  I  abandoned  or 
even  seriously  interrupted  my  work  as  a  field- 
naturalist.  For  a  time  in  Arizona  I  was  diverted; 
but  not  even  during  this  period  was  the  work  I 
had  found  so  interesting  wholly  surrendered. 
The  busiest  day  always  found  some  hour  when 
I  could  examine  into  the  conditions  about  me. 

I  need  not  allude  to  the  great  pleasure  that 
came  to  me  during  this  entire  time  through  the 
constant  additions  I  was  making  to  the  sum  of 


SOUTHERN   ARIZONA  251 

knowledge,  much  of  which  has  been  published, 
adding  materially  to  what  was  known  regarding 
the  bird  life  of  the  Great  Southwest.  Finally, 
winding  up  my  affairs  to  the  best  advantage  pos- 
sible, I  left  Arizona  for  the  last  time  in  March, 
1886,  and  proceeded  at  once  for  the  Gulf  Coast 
of  Florida. 

From  1883  until  1897  I  continued  my  investi- 
gations independently,  amassing  collections  which 
with  my  field  notes  formed  a  basis  for  numerous 
published  contributions,  generally  technical  in 
character.  The  collections  becoming  known  in 
this  way,  were  purchased  for  museums  both 
in  this  country  and  abroad.  Much  of  this  time 
was  passed  in  Florida,  a  season  in  the  moun- 
tains of  Virginia,  and  some  five  months  were 
devoted  to  the  Island  of  Jamaica  in  the  West 
Indies.  Shorter  intervals  were  occupied  by  work 
in  the  vicinity  of  New  York,  in  Westchester 
County,  and  in  New  Jersey  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  South  Orange.  It  is  not  my  purpose 
to  dwell  on  the  two  latter  localities  in  this  narra- 
tive ;  but  I  wish  to  elaborate  at  some  length  parts 
of  the  work  that  I  did  in  Florida,  to  present  in 
some  detail  my  impressions  of  the  bird  life  of  a 
tropical  island,  and  to  consider  briefly  the  salient 
features  of  the  high  altitudes  of  the  mountains 
of  the  southern  part  of  the  Appalachian  range. 
In  1897  I  returned  to  Princeton,  and  soon  after- 


252  THE   STORY   OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

ward  resumed  my  connection  with  the  Univer- 
sity. 

All  this  has  been  told  in  order  to  trace  the 
route  that  I  have  followed ;  for  it  has  led  to  a  kind 
of  study  that  was  not  in  any  way  anticipated. 

This  has  grown  to  be  an  absorbing  interest, 
almost  to  the  exclusion  of  other  fields  of  investi- 
gation. Yet  I  feel  sure  that  the  years  of  prepara- 
tion, what  Huxley  calls  "  Die  Lehrjahre,"  were  an 
essential  part  of  an  equipment  which  alone  would 
qualify  me  for  a  more  original  field  of  research. 


CHAPTER   X 

THE    GULF    COAST    OF    FLORIDA 

IN  March,  1886,  we  left  Arizona.  We  trav- 
elled to  Florida,  and  Grouse  and  Bull  alone  of 
our  animal  friends  accompanied  us.  The  other 
members  of  the  happy  family  at  the  "  Little 
Palace "  were  provided  with  new  homes  among 
our  different  neighbors  in  the  mountains;  for 
though  we  would  have  gladly  taken  all  of  them 
with  us,  this  was  impossible. 

Our  destination  was  a  little  town,  Tarpon 
Springs,  one  of  the  many  new  resorts  that  had 
grown  up  since  our  former  expedition  to  the 
Gulf  Coast.  During  the  entire  interval  that 
had  elapsed  since  that  event,  some  seven  years 
back,  a  vast  impetus  had  been  given  to  the 
development  of  the  resources  of  Florida.  The 
cultivation  of  the  orange  and  other  members  of 
the  Citrus  family  presented  golden  visions,  of 
more  than  one  kind,  to  many.  This  enterprise, 
as  well  as  the  salubrity  of  the  climate  during  the 
winter  making  the  whole  region  favorable  for 
places  of  winter  resort,  attracted  the  attention  of 
a  horde  of  land  speculators.  What  is  known  as 


254  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

4 

a  "  boom "  had  set  in.  Seaside  winter  resorts, 
orange  groves,  pineapple  culture,  and  many  other 
industries  and  enterprises,  formed  a  seeming  basis 
for  a  great  future.  Speedily  the  wilderness  was 
transformed.  Small  towns  and  hamlets  dotted 
the  state ;  scarcely  a  portion  of  it  had  escaped. 

The  Gulf  Coast,  formerly  an  almost  unsettled 
region,  where  only  seven  years  before  tourists 
were  unknown,  was  dotted  up  and  down  with 
small  towns,  separated  by  intervals  of  only  a  few 
miles.  It  began  to  appear  as  if  this  seacoast 
might  rival  that  of  New  Jersey  in  the  continuity 
of  its  panorama  of  towns  and  houses. 

Tarpon  Springs  is  situated  on  a  bayou  leading 
out  of  the  Anclote  River,  not  far  from  its  mouth. 
The  land  about  is  high  and  rolling,  and  formerly 
the  pine  forest  reached  to  the  water's  edge. 
About  a  mile  inland  is  Lake  Butler,  a  very  con- 
siderable body  of  fresh  water.  In  the  town, 
where  most  of  the  pines  had  been  cut  down, 
water-oaks  and  live-oaks  afforded  shade,  cabbage 
palmettos  were  among  the  common  trees,  and 
hedges  of  oleander  flourished  wherever  planted. 
In  an  enclosure,  but  a  few  steps  from  the  bayou, 
we  found  a  little  house  surrounded  by  such  shade 
trees  and  shrubs.  The  house  was  new,  built  of 
the  fragrant  yellow  pine  (the  most  available  wood 
of  the  district),  and  provided  ample  room  for  us. 
It  was  of  one  story,  and  on  the  whole  not  unlike  the 


THE   GULF   COAST   OF   FLORIDA  255 

"  Little  Palace."    This  became  our  new  home,  and 
here  I  again  took  up  the  study  of  Florida  birds. 

By  the  first  of  June  the  exigencies  of  the  climate 
made  it  desirable  for  Mrs.  Scott,  and  other  mem- 
bers of  the  family  who  were  also  at  this  point,  to 
seek  the  cooler  region  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York. 
I  had  previously  determined  to  remain  in  Florida 
continuously,  as  long  as  circumstances  and  my 
health  would  permit ;  and  did  not  leave  the  re- 
gion for  nearly  two  years. 

The  first  excursion  of  a  protracted  length  was 
undertaken  immediately  after  the  departure  of  my 
relatives  for  the  North.  I  chartered  a  sloop  and 
secured  the  services  of  a  skipper  for  a  trip  south, 
to  examine  again  some  of  the  great  rookeries  and 
breeding  grounds  of  aquatic  birds  that  I  had  for- 
merly studied.  Should  time  allow,  I  proposed 
also  to  visit  other  localities  still  farther  south. 
At  the  time  of  starting  on  this  trip  I  knew  that 
herons'"  plumes,  the  aigrettes,  had  commercial 
value,  and  believed  that  Florida  probably  contrib- 
uted its  share.  But  I  had  no  other  idea  than  that 
I  should  be  able  readily  to  carry  out  the  plan  I 
had  laid  down  for  studying  the  breeding  habits  of 
the  several  herons.  There  was  light  needed  in  a 
number  of  directions,  and  problems  that  I  felt 
sure  could  be  solved  without  difficulty  seemed  to 
await  the  coming  of  some  observer.  I  did  not  at 
all  apprehend  that,  in  the  short  period  since  I 


256  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

had  formerly  been  on  this  coast,  vital  and  radical 
changes  could  have  taken  place ;  but  the  first  few 
days  of  my  cruising  revealed  conditions  entirely 
different  from  those  that  I  had  anticipated,  and  my 
sojourn  of  six  weeks  served  only  to  emphasize  them. 

I  have  attempted  a  picture  of  a  great  bird 
rookery  at  several  stages  in  this  narrative,  and 
to  convey  some  idea  of  the  magnitude  of  such 
breeding  grounds  and  their  propinquity  to  one 
another  all  along  the  Gulf  Coast.  This  expedition 
revealed  the  obliteration  and  the  extirpation  of  al- 
most all  these  vast  colonies  of  birds.  The  details 
of  all  this  I  have  already  set  forth  in  a  paper, 
and  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  bibliography  for 
the  title.  It  may,  however,  be  well  to  say  here 
that  so  extraordinary  were  the  facts  that  I  re- 
cited that  Sir  Alfred  Newton,  in  his  "  Dictionary 
of  Birds,"  under  the  title  of  "Extermination"  has 
dwelt  at  length  on  the  presentation  that  I  made. 
At  the  time  when  I  wrote  the  paper  in  question 
it  was  not  part  of  my  office  in  making  a  scientific 
record  to  do  more  than  set  forth  very  precisely 
the  existing  conditions.  It  was  not  in  my  prov- 
ince to  express  my  opinion  of  the  practices  which 
had  brought  about  the  result,  nor  my  sorrow 
and  horror  at  the  infinite  destruction  of  life.  I 
simply  recited  the  occurrences  and  set  forth  the 
facts  as  I  observed  them. 

It   would   be   difficult  for   me   to   find  words 


THE   GULF   COAST  OF   FLORIDA  257 

adequate  to  express,  not  only  my  amazement, 
but  also  the  increasing  horror  that  grew  on  me 
day  after  day  as  I  sailed  southward.  I  was  sick 
at  heart  before  the  cruise  was  well  under  way. 
The  great  Maximo  rookery  at  the  mouth  of 
Tampa  Bay  was  no  longer  a  rookery;  it  was  a 
deserted  mangrove  island.  The  beautiful  rookery 
at  the  mouth  of  John's  Pass  was  the  resort  of 
only  a  few  frightened  birds,  and  so  it  continued. 
At  a  point  on  the  Myiakka  River  I  saw  a  breed- 
ing place  of  the  little  white  egret  in  process  of 
destruction,  and  at  another  point  in  Charlotte 
Harbor  I  arrived  the  day  after  a  great  nesting 
resort  had,  as  the  "plume  hunters"  phrased  it, 
been  "  broken  up."  At  both  places  the  result  was 
accomplished  in  the  same  way.  To  put  the 
reader  fully  in  possession  of  the  method  I  shall 
go  briefly  into  the  matter. 

The  time  when  the  several  kinds  of  herons, 
known  as  egrets,  wear  their  decorative  plumes  is 
coincident  with  the  nuptial  season.  Then  nature 
adds  to  their  charm  and  beauty  these  superb  deco- 
rations. They  are  worn  only  for  a  brief  period, 
perhaps  six  weeks  or  two  months  altogether,  and 
during  all  this  interval  the  birds  are  busied  in 
mating,  in  nest  building,  in  incubating  their  eggs, 
and  in  rearing  and  feeding  their  young.  It  is 
a  comparatively  easy  thing  to  disturb  birds  and 
to  drive  them  away  at  the  period  of  nest  build- 


258  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

ing.  Even  when  the  eggs  are  laid,  the  old  birds 
will  often  abandon  them  if  slightly  alarmed. 
When  the  helpless  young  are  in  the  nest  noth- 
ing short  of  catastrophe  will  induce  their  deser- 
tion. The  parental  instinct  and  affection  is  now 
strongest;  the  perpetuation  of  kind,  the  great 
achievement  of  all  life,  is  about  to  be  accom- 
plished. The  consummation  of  that  end,  on 
which  is  based  the  strongest  and  most  funda- 
mental of  animal  passions,  is  about  to  be  fulfilled. 
This  is  the  time  and  season  chosen  by  the  plume 
hunter  for  his  harvest.  Now  he  realizes  that  the 
cries  of  the  young  birds,  hungry  in  their  nests, 
will  surely  bring  the  parents  back  at  short  inter- 
vals, no  matter  how  frequently  disturbed  and 
frightened  away.  To  accomplish  his  object  more 
surely  he  avails  himself  of  modern  contrivances 
for  killing.  The  almost  noiseless  Flobert  rifle, 
with  its  tiny  charge  to  speed  the  fatal  ball,  the 
gun  whose  report  is  hardly  louder  than  the  snap- 
ping of  a  twig,  is  his  weapon.  Stationed  within 
ten  or  twelve  feet  of  a  nest  both  parents  are 
secured  in  a  few  moments,  and  then  the  next 
pair  are  dealt  with  in  the  same  way.  Continuous 
work  of  this  kind  from  daylight  to  dark  results 
in  two  things,  a  vast  pile  of  carcasses  of  the  dead 
parents,  stripped  of  their  beautiful  plumes,  and 
thousands  of  young  birds  left  to  starve  to  death 
in  misery  in  their  nests. 


THE   GULF  COAST  OF  FLORIDA  259 

Such  was  the  scene  that  I  saw  repeated  over 
and  over  and  over  and  over  again  on  my  journey 
southward.  Not  only  were  the  heron  rookeries 
dealt  with  in  this  way,  but  on  one  large  island  I 
counted  scores  upon  scores  of  dead  brown  pelicans, 
stripped  of  their  plumage,  and  in  the  trees  over- 
head were  countless  nests,  which  at  the  time  of 
my  visit  contained  the  decaying  bodies  of  young 
birds.  Flocks  of  buzzards  slept,  gorged,  on  the 
naked  limbs  hard  by,  attesting  to  the  horrible 
slaughter  by  the  countless  dead  they  left  un- 
touched. 

A  word  more,  and  I  have  done.  All  this  was 
undertaken  and  accomplished  for  what?  For 
decoration  to  satisfy  a  sense  of  beauty  ?  I  believe 
it  was  rather  to  follow  a  fashion.  I  wish  clearly 
to  emphasize  the  fact  that  I  do  not  blame  the 
women  who  use  these  decorations,  for  men  are 
the  responsible  parties.  No  woman  ever  wore  a 
decoration  of  any  kind,  much  less  the  feathers 
of  a  bird,  for  her  own  pleasure  or  to  attract  the 
attention  of  other  women.  The  object  for  which 
women  wear  all  decorations  is  to  enhance  their 
attractiveness  and  beauty  to  men,  not  to  them- 
selves or  to  each  other ;  and  as  long  as  men  care 
to  have  women's  hats  decorated  with  feathers,  and 
express  their  approval  by  admiration  bestowed, 
just  so  long  will  the  custom  endure. 

Nor  is  this  barbarous  persecution  confined  to 


260  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD  LOVER 

herons  and  pelicans.  Native  song-birds  seem 
now  immune.  Recently,  however,  the  wilds  and 
fastnesses  of  New  Guinea  have  been  levied  on 
for  the  plumes  of  those  exquisite  birds,  so  long 
mythical  even  to  naturalists,  "  the  birds  of  para- 
dise." These  are  of  such  incredible  beauty  in 
color,  in  texture,  and  in  form,  that  when  the  first 
skins  of  birds  of  paradise  came  to  the  notice  of 
naturalists,  the  myths  connected  with  these  birds 
(which  no  scientific  man  had  then  seen  alive) 
were  readily  believed ;  a  fact  which  is  illustrated 
by  the  name  of  the  first  kind  of  bird  of  paradise 
which  was  described  by  science.  It  was  called 
apoda,  the  footless  bird,  the  bird  without  legs. 
So  glorious  was  the  color,  texture,  and  harmony 
of  the  plumage,  that  the  stones  of  the  native 
hunters  that  the  birds  never  alighted  on  earth  or 
tree,  but  always  flew  with  feathers  extended  to 
the  sun,  was  not  only  credited,  but  formed  a  basis 
for  the  name  which  they  bear  to  this  day. 

The  following  passage  is  taken  from  "  The 
Malay  Archipelago."  Wallace,  whose  acquaint- 
ance, with  these  wonderful  birds  in  life  is  more 
intimate  than  that  of  any  other  naturalist,  says :  — 

"  When  the  earliest  European  voyagers  reached  the  Moluccas 
in  search  of  cloves  and  nutmegs,  which  were  then  rare  and  pre- 
cious spices,  they  were  presented  with  the  dried  skins  of  birds 
so  strange  and  beautiful  as  to  excite  the  admiration  even  of 
those  wealth-seeking  rovers.  The  Malay  traders  gave  them  the 


THE  GULF  COAST  OF   FLORIDA  261 

name  oiManukdewata,  or  God's  birds ;  and  the  Portuguese,  find- 
ing they  had  no  feet  or  wings,  and  not  being  able  to  learn  any- 
thing authentic  about  them,  called  them  Passaros  de  Sol,  or  birds 
of  the  sun ;  while  the  learned  Dutchmen,  who  wrote  in  Latin, 
called  them  Avis  paradiseus,  or  paradise  bird.  John  van  Lin- 
schoten  gives  these  names  in  1598,  and  tells  us  that  no  one  has  seen 
these  birds  alive,  for  they  live  in  the  air,  always  turning  toward  the 
sun,  and  never  lighting  on  the  earth  till  they  die ;  for  they  have 
neither  feet  nor  wings,  as,  he  adds,  may  be  seen  by  the  birds 
carried  to  India,  and  sometimes  to  Holland;  but  being  very 
costly  they  were  then  rarely  seen  in  Europe.  More  than  a  hun- 
dred years  later  Mr.  William  Funnel,  who  accompanied  Dampier, 
and  wrote  an  account  of  the  voyage,  saw  specimens  at  Amboyna, 
and  was  told  that  they  came  to  Banda  to  eat  nutmegs,  which 
intoxicated  them  and  made  them  fall  down  senseless,  and  they 
were  killed  by  ants.  Down  to  1 760,  when  Linnaeus  named  the 
largest  species  Paradisea  apoda  (the  footless  Paradise  bird),  no 
perfect  specimen  had  been  seen  in  Europe,  and  absolutely 
nothing  was  known  about  them." 

It  does  not  seem  too  late,  even  at  this  date,  to 
repair  some  of  the  damage,  and  much  wise  legis- 
lation has  been  enacted  to  that  end.  Another 
factor  is,  however,  more  essential,  public  opinion ; 
the  cultivation  of  the  sensibilities,  the  discourage- 
ment of  taking  life  of  any  kind  needlessly,  the 
establishment  of  friendship  between  man  and 
beast.  The  consummation  of  civilization  in  this 
direction,  and  the  knowledge  that  much  greater 
aesthetic  satisfaction  is  to  be  derived  from  that 
which  is  alive  rather  than  from  that  which  is 
dead,  is  the  result  to  be  worked  for. 


262  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

Returning  from  my  trip  to  the  South  I  visited 
at  the  mouth  of  Tampa  Bay  an  enormous 
breeding  ground  of  Cabot's  terns,  and  continued 
my  way  homeward,  reaching  Tarpon  Springs 
early  in  July.  Throughout  the  summer  I 
collected  birds  of  the  region,  and  made  careful 
records  of  all  observations  regarding  the  summer 
bird  fauna  of  the  locality.  Practically  this  sort  of 
work  was  continued  throughout  the  year,  and 
until  the  following  June,  that  of  1887,  when  I  left 
Florida  for  a  brief  period,  spending  some  three 
months  in  the  North. 

Several  matters  that  came  under  my  notice 
during  this  time  seem  worthy  of  record.  On  the 
7th  of  February,  1887,  from  a  nest  in  a  rookery 
not  far  from  the  town,  I  took  three  young  of  Ward's 
heron,  the  prototype  of  the  great  blue  heron  of 
the  North,  and  similar  to  that  bird  in  general  ap- 
pearance, though  somewhat  larger.  These  young 
birds  were  about  three  weeks  old,  and  were  pass- 
ing from  the  downy  to  the  feathered  state  of 
plumage.  My  purpose  was,  to  watch  their  growth, 
especially  the  development  of  the  feathers.  I  put 
the  fledgling  herons  under  a  rude  cover  in  the 
yard  inside  of  a  low  fence  which  they  could  not 
climb  over,  and  fed  them  fresh  fish  cut  into 
pieces.  They  also  had  a  supply  of  water.  In 
the  space  of  a  week  or  ten  days,  they  were  fully 
able  to  care  for  themselves,  and  it  was  only 


THE   GULF   COAST   OF   FLORIDA  263 

necessary  to  place  the  dishes  containing  food 
before  them,  when  they  would  gulp  it  down  in 
large  mouthfuls,  and  then,  standing  on  one  or 
both  legs,  go  to  sleep.  They  grew  very  rapidly, 
and  became  extremely  tame,  seeming  only  to  have 
antagonism  to  the  dogs  about  the  yard;  for  by 
this  time  the  herons  were  no  longer  confined  to 
their  small  coop,  but  roamed  at  large.  So  matters 
went  on  until  they  attained  their  full  growth. 
Then,  the  purpose  for  which  I  had  reared  them 
having  been  accomplished,  so  far  as  the  changes 
in  feathers  were  concerned,  I  concluded,  as  they 
were  a  source  of  danger  to  the  dogs,  to  take  them 
back  to  the  cypress  swamp,  the  site  of  the  rookery, 
thinking  they  would  be  best  satisfied  to  be  left  in 
their  native  haunts. 

With  this  end  in  view  I  called  in  the  services 
of  one  Brown,  a  colored  man,  who  had  been  with 
me  when  the  birds  were  captured.  They  were 
now  placed  in  a  rude  coop  and  transferred  to  the 
wagon.  We  then  drove  to  the  cypress  swamp 
some  three  miles  from  the  town.  It  was  late  in 
the  afternoon  when  we  started,  and  by  the  time 
we  arrived  at  our  destination  it  was  quite  dark, 
late  in  the  dusk  of  the  evening;  so  we  quickly 
liberated  the  captives,  and  returned. 

Imagine  my  surprise  the  next  morning,  on  com- 
ing out  of  the  house,  to  see  the  three  herons  perched 
in  a  row  on  the  fence,  announcing  with  loud  voices 


264  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

and  gaping  mouths  that  it  was  high  time  for  some 
one  to  go  to  the  fish  market.  Needless  to  say,  I 
went  at  once.  Nor  was  this  the  end.  I  found  I 
could  not  get  rid  of  them.  Like  Sinbad  the 
sailor,  I  had  taken  up  a  load,  and  could  not  lay  it 
down ;  the  Old  Man  of  the  Sea  would  not  relin- 
quish the  advantage  he  had  gained.  After  vari- 
ous experiments  and  expedients,  an  arrangement 
was  contrived  that  seemed  fair  to  all  parties. 
There  was  a  boat-house  on  the  bayou  that  had 
a  grated  water  door  through  which  the  tide  rose 
and  fell,  and  inside  was  a  spacious  pool  for  the 
accommodation  of  various  craft.  Now,  this  was 
not  in  use ;  and  here,  for  a  time,  two  or  three 
weeks,  the  birds  were  confined.  They  were  sup- 
plied daily  with  food,  and  were  able  to  catch 
many  small  fry  that  swam  about  in  the  enclosure, 
eking  out  a  good  living.  After  a  time  the  water- 
gate  was  left  open,  when  they  all  waded  out,  and 
flew  to  various  points  in  the  bayou.  From  that 
time  on  for  months  the  herons  were  daily  seen 
walking  about,  and  at  any  time  when  I  had  a  fish, 
I  could  call  them  and  they  would  come  and  get  it. 
With  the  arrival  of  sportsmen  from  the  North,  one 
by  one  these  birds  were  sacrificed  to  satisfy  the 
killing  instinct  that  seemed  to  be  rampant  in  the 
breast  of  every  man  who  invaded  Tarpon.  The 
last  one  disappeared  about  fourteen  or  fifteen 
months  after  liberation. 


THE  GULF  COAST  OF   FLORIDA  265 

Fortunately,  these  occurrences  answered  a  good 
purpose.  The  town  authorities  of  course  had 
noticed  these  birds,  and  I  had  frequently  warned 
people  not  to  kill  them  ;  but  this  lesson  was  better 
than  all  preaching.  Now  a  law  was  made  that, 
within  a  certain  distance  of  the  town,  and  on  the 
adjacent  waters,  no  one  should  be  allowed  to  fire 
a  gun.  As  a  consequence,  during  many  ensuing 
winters  many  kinds  of  birds  frequented  these 
waters;  wild  ducks  swam  about  in  the  bayou 
which  reached  away  into  the  town,  and  became  so 
tame  as  to  approach  within  a  few  feet  and  pick  up 
pieces  of  bread  thrown  to  them,  much  as  swans 
and  ducks  down  on  the  ponds  in  Central  Park. 
They  soon  found  out  that  here  they  would  be 
unmolested. 

Nor  was  this  the  only  place  where  similar  re- 
sults followed  protective  steps.  There  is  a  hotel 
on  Tampa  Bay  located  at  the  end  of  a  long  rail- 
way wharf  which  extends  several  miles  out  from 
the  shore.  Here  passengers  embarking  and  arriv- 
ing on  the  steamer  for  Key  West  are  entertained. 
The  dining-room  windows  did  not  simply  look 
out  upon  the  water,  but  were  over  it,  the  walls  of 
the  house  rising  on  piles  straight  from  the  bay. 
While  taking  breakfast  one  morning  in  March,  the 
windows  all  open,  I  was  surprised  to  see  countless 
wild  ducks,  chiefly  the  lesser  scaup,  swimming 
about  close  to  the  building,  much  at  home.  On 


266  THE   STORY  OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

throwing  out  a  bit  of  bread,  they  scrambled  for 
it  and  tussled  with  one  another,  much  as  tame 
ducks  do.  Then,  as  soon  as  other  ducks  at  a 
little  distance  perceived  that  feeding  was  going 
on,  they  joined  the  troop,  and  before  long  several 
hundred  wild  ducks  were  under  the  windows  of 
this  hotel,  affording  an  unusual  sight 

The  waiter,  noticing  my  interest,  informed  me 
that  this  result  had  been  brought  about  because, 
in  order  to  prevent  accidents  to  guests,  one  of  the 
rules  of  the  establishment  was  that  no  firearms 
should  be  discharged  in  the  vicinity,  from  any 
point  on  the  wharf,  or  on  the  adjacent  waters. 
Not  the  least  curious  part  of  this  incident  is  that 
the  same  kinds  of  ducks,  only  a  little  distance 
away  in  the  bay,  say  a  mile,  were  so  extremely 
wild,  that  it  was  difficult  to  approach  them.  I 
believe  that  probably  some  of  the  individuals 
observed  as  so  wary,  were  the  very  birds  that, 
when  in  the  vicinity  of  the  building,  lost  all  sense 
of  fear.  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  they  dis- 
criminated that  danger  ensued  from  the  approach 
of  men  in  boats,  and  that  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
inn  nothing  was  to  be  feared. 

During  the  same  spring  when  the  Ward's 
herons  were  obtained,  I  also  procured  a  brood  of 
four  young  sparrow-hawks,  from  a  deserted  wood- 
pecker's hole  in  a  palmetto.  The  birds  were  just 
beginning  to  feather.  They  were  kept  under 


THE   GULF   COAST  OF   FLORIDA  267 

similar  conditions  to  the  herons,  but  were  fed  on 
raw  meat,  and  throve  well.  While  confined  at  first 
in  an  ordinary  mocking-bird's  cage,  to  prevent 
enemies  from  getting  at  them,  as  soon  as  they 
had  grown  wings  and  were  able  to  fly  about,  they 
were  allowed  full  liberty.  For  upward  of  a  year 
three  of  them  remained  in  the  vicinity  of  my 
house,  and  might  be  seen  perched  on  one  of  the 
chimneys  during  a  part  of  the  day.  At  such 
times,  if  any  one  approached  them  with  a  piece  of 
meat,  and  whistled,  they  would  immediately  fly 
down,  and  take  it  from  the  hand ;  and  for  a  long 
period,  while  they  were  young,  that  is,  until  they 
were  five  months  old,  they  all  stayed  about  the 
house ;  when  any  one  appeared,  stranger  or 
friend,  they  were  vociferous  in  their  calls  to  be 
fed.  The  sharp  "  peep,  peep,  peep,  peep,"  of  their 
whistling  was  a  sure  indication  in  the  house  that 
some  one  was  coming.  During  our  absence  one 
summer,  these  hawks  disappeared,  and  I  fancy 
that  this  came  about  because  there  was  no  one  to 
feed  them,  and  hence  they  naturally  resorted  en- 
tirely to  the  methods  of  wild  birds. 

Another  incident  of  the  year  1887  was  the 
discovery,  in  the  vicinity  of  Tarpon  Springs,  on 
the  i  yth  of  March,  of  a  nest  of  the  ivory-billed 
woodpecker.  I  feel  that  the  great  pioneer  of 
American  ornithology  has  so  fully  painted  the 
portrait  of  this  noble  woodpecker  that  I  may 


268  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

better  borrow  from    him    than    attempt   a   new 
description. 

et  I  have  always  imagined,  that  in  the  plumage  of  the  beauti- 
ful ivory-billed  woodpecker  there  is  something  very  closely 
allied  to  the  style  of  the  great  Vandyke.  The  broad  extent  of 
its  dark,  glossy  body  and  tail,  the  large  and  well-defined  white 
markings  of  the  wings,  neck,  and  bill,  relieved  by  the  rich 
carmine  of  the  pendent  crest  of  the  male,  and  the  brilliant 
yellow  of  its  eye,  have  never  failed  to  remind  me  of  some  of 
the  boldest  and  noblest  productions  of  that  inimitable  artist's 
pencil.  So  strangely  indeed  have  these  thoughts  become  in- 
grafted in  my  mind,  as  I  have  gradually  obtained  a  more  inti- 
mate acquaintance  with  the  ivory-billed  woodpecker,  that 
whenever  I  have  observed  one  of  these  birds  flying  from  one 
tree  to  another,  I  have  mentally  exclaimed,  'There  goes  a 
Vandyke ! ' 

"  I  wish,  kind  reader,  it  were  in  my  power  to  present  to  your 
mind's  eye  the  favorite  resort  of  the  ivory-billed  woodpecker. 
Would  that  I  could  describe  the  extent  of  those  deep  morasses, 
overshadowed  by  millions  of  gigantic  dark  cypresses,  spreading 
their  sturdy,  moss-covered  branches  as  if  to  admonish  intrud- 
ing man  to  pause  and  reflect  on  the  many  difficulties  which  he 
must  encounter,  should  he  persist  in  venturing  farther  into  their 
inaccessible  recesses,  extending  for  miles  before  him,  where  he 
should  be  interrupted  by  huge  projecting  branches,  here  and 
there  the  massy  trunk  of  a  fallen  and  decaying  tree,  and  thou- 
sands of  creeping  and  twining  plants  of  innumerable  species  ! 
Would  that  I  could  represent  to  you  the  dangerous  nature  of 
the  ground,  its  oozing,  spongy,  and  miry  disposition,  although 
covered  with  a  beautiful,  but  treacherous  carpeting,  composed 
of  the  richest  mosses,  flags,  and  waterlilies,  no  sooner  receiving 
the  pressure  of  the  foot  than  it  yields  and  endangers  the  very 
life  of  the  adventurer,  whilst  here  and  there,  as  he  approaches 
an  opening,  that  proves  merely  a  lake  of  black,  muddy  water, 


THE   GULF  COAST  OF  FLORIDA  269 

his  ear  is  assailed  by  the  dismal  croaking  of  innumerable  frogs, 
the  hissing  of  serpents,  or  the  bellowing  of  alligators  !  Would 
that  I  could  give  you  an  idea  of  the  sultry  pestiferous  atmos- 
phere that  nearly  suffocates  the  intruder  during  the  meridian 
heat  of  our  dogdays,  in  those  gloomy  and  horrible  swamps  ! 
But  the  attempt  to  picture  these  scenes  would  be  vain.  Noth- 
ing short  of  ocular  demonstration  can  express  any  adequate 
idea  of  them." 

Audubon  found  the  ivory-bill  breeding,  and 
became  intimately  acquainted  with  its  home  and 
young.  Few  ornithologists  of  to-day  have  been 
so  fortunate.  From  my  notes  made  at  the  time, 
I  copy  as  follows :  — 

"To-day  I  found  a  nest  of  ivory-billed  woodpeckers,  and 
obtained  both  parent  birds  and  the  single  young  which  was 
the  occupant  of  the  nest.  The  cavity  for  the  nest  was  exca- 
vated in  a  large  cypress  tree  in  the  midst  of  a  dense  and 
sombre  swamp,  the  entrance  to  the  nest  being  forty-one  feet 
from  the  level  of  the  ground.  The  opening  to  the  cavity  was 
oval  in  shape,  about  three  and  a  half  inches  wide  and  four  and 
a  half  inches  high.  It  seemed  apparent  that  the  same  cavity 
had  been  used  before  for  a  nesting  place.  It  was  cylindrical, 
and  rather  more  than  fourteen  inches  deep.  The  young  bird 
in  the  nest  was  a  female,  and  though  about  one-third  grown, 
was  as  yet  only  slightly  feathered,  and  had  not  opened  its  eyes. 
The  feathers  of  the  first  plumage  were  apparent,  beginning  to 
cover  the  down,  and  were  exactly  the  same  in  coloration  as 
those  of  the  adult  female  bird."  —  Mss.  NOTES. 

So  far  as  I  am  aware,  this  is  the  only  recent 
record  of  the  finding  of  the  nest  of  this  bird,  and 
one  of  the  few  records  that  we  have  in  regard  to 


270  THE  STORY   OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

very  young  birds.  The  ivory-bill  woodpecker  was 
formerly  common  in  the  South,  but  is  now  rare 
and  very  shy.  However,  I  once  saw,  during  this 
same  winter,  eleven  at  once  working  on  some 
dead  cypress  trees.  Four  were  together  on  the 
same  tree. 

I  now  purpose  to  dwell  at  some  length  on  a 
protracted  expedition  made  during  the  spring  of 
1890.  On  this  occasion  I  sailed  south  along 
the  Gulf  Coast,  going  over  the  ground  formerly 
traversed,  and,  extending  the  journey  beyond 
Punta  Rassa,  finally  rounded  Cape  Sable,  and 
went  far  to  the  northeast  of  it.  Thence  crossing 
to  the  Florida  reef,  I  cruised  among  the  Keys, 
ultimately  reaching  Key  West.  At  this  point, 
through  the  kindness  of  my  friend  the  late  Major 
Charles  E.  Bendire,  U.S.A.,  and  the  courtesy  of 
the  Treasury  Department,  the  Government  Reve- 
nue Cutter  McLane  was  placed  at  my  disposal. 
Permission  was  granted  me  to  visit  the  group  of 
islands  known  as  the  Dry  Tortugas,  and  to  re- 
main there  as  long  as  might  be  essential  to  the 
end  I  had  in  view.  I  shall  not  dwell  at  length 
on  the  events  of  this  expedition,  which  I  have  set 
forth  fully  in  several  papers,  the  titles  of  which 
are  cited  in  the  bibliography. 

Audubon  has  made  the  region  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  Florida  reef  historical  in  ornithology  by 
his  explorations,  and  on  this  expedition  much  of 


THE   GULF   COAST  OF   FLORIDA  271 

this  classic  ground  was  traversed.  Here  was  the 
home  of  the  great  white  heron,  a  bird  that  for  a 
while  was  lost,  like  a  number  of  other  of  Audu- 
bon's  discoveries.  That  is,  for  many  years  no 
other  specimens  than  those  which  he  brought 
back  with  him  were  obtained.  Here,  too,  he  saw 
and  described  vast  flocks  of  flamingoes,  and,  so 
far  as  I  am  aware,  no  naturalist  had  seen  this 
great  flock  of  flamingoes  since  Audubon's  day. 
It  is  true  that  local  hunters,  especially  those  in 
pursuit  of  plumes,  had  reported  the  great  flock 
about  to  be  described;  but  the  reader  can  imag- 
ine something  of  my  sensations  on  seeing  for  the 
first  time  probably  more  than  a  thousand  of  these 
remarkable  birds  in  one  great  band. 

Eighteen  miles  east  of  Cape  Sable  three  bays 
make  into  the  mainland.  The  water  in  these 
bays  and  for  miles  outside  of  them  is  extremely 
shallow,  being  rarely  more  than  a  foot  deep, 
while  at  ordinary  tides  the  depth  does  not  exceed 
six  inches.  The  bottom  is  muddy,  the  mud  is 
unfathomable  and  of  the  consistency  of  gruel, 
making  wading  impossible  and  poling  a  boat 
difficult.  The  shores  are  wooded  with  black 
mangrove,  "  buttonwood,"  and  cabbage  palmetto, 
beside  some  undergrowth  of  small  shrubs.  The 
land  is  so  low  as  to  be  flooded  at  spring  tides.  It 
is  therefore  necessarily  very  damp,  and  is  the 
home  of  vast  hordes  of  mosquitoes,  which  flourish 


272  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

in  all  their  varieties.  Even  in  February,  when 
I  visited  this  spot,  though  a  stiff  easterly  breeze 
was  blowing  all  the  time,  going  ashore  was  some- 
thing to  be  dreaded,  and  once  upon  the  land  the 
conditions  were  well  nigh  unbearable.  There 
was  no  fresh  water  to  be  obtained  for  miles,  the 
nearest  being  on  the  other  side  of  Cape  Sable, 
that  is,  to  the  west  of  it.  It  was  a  most  desolate 
and  forbidding  country,  either  on  the  sea,  if  this 
shallow  water  might  be  termed  sea,  or  on  land,  if 
these  damp  mangrove  swamps  with  their  muddy 
bottoms  could  be  so  designated.  But  it  was  pos- 
sible to  make  a  headquarters  upon  the  schooner 
in  which  I  was  cruising,  some  ten  miles  from  the 
mouth  of  the  first  of  these  bays. 

After  a  long  search,  being  well  nigh  discour- 
aged, and  having  at  last  found  the  flock,  I  deter- 
mined to  remain  for  a  time  to  observe  the 
flamingoes.  Rounding  the  point  of  the  first  or 
more  westerly  of  the  three  bays,  it  was  found  to 
be  a  mile  and  a  half  in  width,  and  it  extended  two 
miles  into  the  land,  with  a  decided  bend  or  curve 
to  the  westward.  No  birds  were  observed  until 
the  extreme  end  of  the  bay  was  opened,  and 
there,  perhaps  a  mile  away,  was  presented  a  novel 
and  wonderful  sight.  Stretching  out  for  fully 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  and  about  three  hundred 
yards  from  the  mainland  shore  was  a  band  of  rosy, 
firelike  color.  This  band  was  unbroken,  and 


THE   GULF  COAST  OF  FLORIDA  273 

seemed  to  be  even,  though  curving  with  the  con- 
tour of  the  shore.  Now  and  again  a  flame  or 
series  of  flames  shot  up  above  the  level  of  the  line, 
which  was  caused,  as  seen  through  a  glass,  by  one 
or  more  birds  raising  their  heads  on  their  long, 
slim  necks  to  rest  themselves  or  to  look  about. 
When  first  noticed,  most  of  the  birds  were  feeding 
with  their  heads  low  down  or  below  the  surface, 
searching  in  the  mud  for  minute  shell-fish,  which 
appeared  to  be  their  favorite  food.  Now  some  of 
the  birds  saw  the  boat,  and  the  alarm  was  given. 
Slowly  and  gracefully  the  line  began  to  contract 
toward  the  centre,  and  the  band  soon  became  a 
great  red  patch  of  fire  on  the  water,  the  resem- 
blance to  flame  being  much  increased  by  the  con- 
stant movements  of  the  heads  and  necks  of  the 
multitude.  In  a  few  moments  the  birds  began  to 
rise,  and  all  were  soon  in  flight,  passing  out  of  the 
bay  and  over  the  point  of  land  to  the  east  in  long 
lines  and  in  V-shaped  parties,  recalling  similar 
processions  of  wild  geese. 

The  color  of  the  flamingoes  when  alighted 
was  striking,  but  when  in  the  air  the  birds 
seemed  unreal.  They  were  like  a  cloud  of  pink, 
flame-colored  and  brilliant  with  the  hues  of  sun- 
set, shot  with  quivering  tongues  of  fire.  As  far 
as  one  could  see  the  retreating  flock  color  was 
the  conspicuous  feature.  Everything  else  was  for 
the  moment  forgotten. 


274  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

After  waiting  a  long  time  for  the  return  of  the 
birds,  and  exploring  neighboring  bays  without 
discovering  more,  I  returned  to  the  schooner ;  but 
the  next  morning  was  off  bright  and  early,  and  on 
reaching  the  first  bay  the  large  flock  was  again 
found  feeding.  Instead  of  approaching  by  boat 
this  time,  I  landed  and  toiled  in  spite  of  the 
mosquitoes  to  a  point  of  vantage,  perhaps  some 
three  hundred  yards  from  the  birds,  where  I 
could  readily  examine  them,  both  with  the  naked 
eye  and  by  the  aid  of  a  glass. 

While  feeding,  they  were  stretched  out  in  a 
long  line,  generally  in  a  single  rank,  but  some- 
times in  two  platoons.  The  line  varied  in  length 
at  times ;  now  it  extended  for  a  mile,  and  again 
it  contracted  to  some  six  hundred  feet.  When 
stretched  to  its  extreme  length,  it  was  broken  in 
places,  intervals  of  a  hundred  feet  being  the 
longest  open  spaces. 

During  the  time  the  birds  were  feeding,  there 
were  three  small  parties,  varying  from  two  to  five 
individuals,  that  were  evidently  doing  picket-duty. 
At  each  end  of  the  line,  about  a  hundred  yards 
from  it,  was  posted  one  of  these  parties,  and  off- 
shore, about  the  centre,  a  third  outpost  was  sta- 
tioned a  hundred  feet  away.  At  intervals  of  half 
an  hour,  or  perhaps  a  little  longer,  individuals 
composing  these  picket-squads  would  take  wing, 
fly  to  the  flock,  and  alight,  and  in  less  than  a 


THE   GULF  COAST  OF  FLORIDA  275 

minute  some  other  birds  would  take  the  places  of 
the  retired  sentinels.  The  entire  party  of  sentinels 
was  not  changed  at  one  time ;  one  would  retire  and 
another  take  the  vacant  place.  There  were  never 
more  than  five  individuals  in  a  picket  party,  and 
now  and  then  I  noticed  a  solitary  sentinel,  and 
the  squad  at  times  consisted  of  three  birds. 
These  outposts  did  not  feed,  and  seemed  to  spend 
their  time  in  watching  and  giving  attention  to  the 
protection  of  the  main  body. 

Besides  the  bright  scarlet  birds  (which  were 
comparatively  few)  there  were  many  individuals 
less  brilliant;  I  should  describe  them  as  a  rosy 
salmon,  and  some  of  the  flock  were  a  dull,  grayish 
white  in  color.  These  three  phases  represented 
varying  ages  of  the  flamingoes,  the  dull  gray  birds 
being  immature  and  the  scarlet  ones  adults. 

In  this  remote  region,  beside  the  flamingoes, 
there  were  many  other  interesting  birds.  Large 
flocks  of  white  pelicans,  and  a  great  many  Cas- 
pian terns  were  present.  The  great  white  heron, 
which  is  a  solitary  bird,  and  not  at  all  like  in 
character  to  its  gregarious  smaller  allies,  the 
two  white  egrets,  relieved  the  deep  green  of  the 
mangrove  that  covered  the  shore,  seeming  like 
marble  statues,  and  decidedly  Japanese  in  effect. 
Nor  were  the  smaller  birds  absent.  Many  kinds 
of  warblers,  great  Carolina  wrens,  kingfishers, 
sparrow-hawks,  flickers,  catbirds,  and  fish-crows 


276  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

abounded.  Overhead  soared  both  kinds  of  buz- 
zards common  to  the  region,  and  bald  eagles 
might  frequently  be  seen  perched  or  flying. 

From  the  point  where  the  flamingoes  were 
observed,  I  crossed  to  Bahia  Honda  on  the  Florida 
reef,  and  thence  turning  again  westward,  sailed 
about  among  the  various  Keys  in  a  leisurely 
manner,  examining  the  birds  and  their  breed- 
ing grounds,  and  ultimately  reached  Key  West. 
Novelties  that  presented  themselves  on  the  way 
were  the  Mangrove  cuckoo,  the  Key  West  vireo, 
and  the  black-whiskered  vireo.  On  many  of  the 
low  mangrove  islands  colonies  of  yellow-crowned 
night-herons  were  breeding,  and  throughout  the 
journey  I  not  only  frequently  saw  the  great  white 
heron,  a  truly  regal  bird,  but  found  it  nesting,  and 
obtained  both  its  eggs  and  young. 

At  Key  West  I  remained  nearly  three  weeks, 
during  which  time  daily  excursions  were  made  to 
procure  representative  birds  and  to  obtain  addi- 
tional notes  in  regard  to  the  migration,  and  com- 
parative abundance  of  the  several  kinds. 

I  will  now  give  some  account  of  a  visit  to 
the  Dry  Tortugas,  and  the  results  that  accrued 
from  it,  and  then  briefly  summarize  the  general 
features,  and  more  striking  achievements  of  the 
several  seasons  that  were  passed  on  the  Gulf 
Coast  of  Florida. 

The  group  of  islands  known  as  the  Dry  Tor- 


THE   GULF  COAST  OF   FLORIDA  277 

tugas  have  become  famous  since  the  time  of  my 
visit,  in  connection  with  the  late  Spanish  war; 
and  it  is  not  my  purpose  to  speak  of  present  con- 
ditions, but  rather  to  record  such  as  existed  twelve 
years  ago.  The  Dry  Tortugas  are  a  group  of 
irregular,  low,  sandy  and  coral  islands,  six  in 
number,  which  are  some  sixty  miles  west  of  Key 
West  in  north  latitude  24°  35'  and  west  longitude 
82°  52'  approximately.  The  only  land  between 
Key  West  and  Tortugas  is  a  group  of  Keys  known 
as  Marquesas.  These  Keys  are  within  twenty 
miles  of  Key  West,  so  that  the  little  specks  of 
land  which  we  call  the  Dry  Tortugas  rise  from 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  in  an  isolated  position ;  the 
nearest  island  being  forty  miles  distant.  The 
mainland  of  Florida  is  a  hundred  and  forty  miles 
away,  while  the  Island  of  Cuba  is  not  quite  ninety 
miles  to  the  south.  The  coast  of  Yucatan  is 
three  hundred  and  fifty  miles  south-west,  and, 
directly  westward,  the  Mexican  coast  is  seven 
hundred  miles  distant.  I  speak  of  all  this  so  that 
to  the  reader  it  may  be  really  apparent  how 
isolated  these  islands  are. 

The  most  important  island  of  the  group, 
though  by  no  means  the  largest,  is  known  as 
Garden  Key.  It  is  nearly  circular,  and  when  it 
was  my  headquarters  its  shores  were  defined  by 
the  ramparts  of  Fort  Jefferson,  an  obsolete  brick 
fortification,  three  tiers  in  height.  In  the  enclos- 


278  THE   STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

ure  formed  by  the  ramparts,  an  area  of  some  ten 
acres,  are  barracks  and  officers'  quarters.  In  one 
part  there  was  a  very  considerable  grove  of  button- 
wood  trees,  perhaps  half  an  acre  in  extent,  and 
scattered  about  were  some  forty  cocoanut  palms, 
as  well  as  single  buttonwood  trees  of  fairly  good 
size,  but  not  more  than  fifty  feet  high.  None 
of  these  trees  extend  above  the  high  walls  of  the 
fort,  which  rise  fully  sixty  feet  above  the  surface 
of  the  water. 

Three-quarters  of  a  mile  to  the  west  of  Garden 
Key  is  a  small  Key,  oval  in  shape,  containing 
about  eight  acres,  which  is  known  as  Bird  Key. 
Here  myriads  of  terns  come  annually  to  breed, 
nesting  both  on  the  ground  and  in  the  low 
stunted  bushes  that  shade  it.  I  was  not  so 
fortunate  as  to  see  the  terns  nesting,  nor  were 
they  present  during  my  stay;  but  my  friend, 
Dr.  Goodman,  who  was  stationed  here  in  those 
days,  and  who  undertook  subsequent  investiga- 
tions for  me,  told  me  that  shortly  after  I  left  the 
birds  arrived  in  great  numbers.  The  noddies 
and  sooty  terns  arrive  at  the  Dry  Tortugas  about 
April  20,  but  at  first  remain  only  a  few  days  and 
then  disappear,  to  return  some  days  later  in  greatly 
increased  numbers,  when  breeding  is  almost  im- 
mediately commenced.  They  leave  early  in  the 
fall,  and  are  not  seen  here,  except  an  occasional 
one,  until  the  following  season.  Since  the  Span- 


THE   GULF  COAST  OF   FLORIDA  279 

ish  War  the  Government  has  carefully  protected 
the  nesting  grounds  of  terns,  as  well  as  of  the 
boobies,  which  breed  in  the  vicinity  on  another 
Key.  Formerly  the  egg  hunters  preyed  on  all 
at  will,  supplying  annually  eggs  by  the  barrel  to 
the  Key  West  market. 

I  cannot  dwell  on  the  details  of  the  bird  life 
that  characterized  these  keys,  except  in  a  gen- 
eral way;  the  eighty  different  kinds  of  birds, 
represented  by  thousands  of  individuals,  which  I 
saw  during  my  stay  of  three  weeks,  are  fully  dealt 
with  in  a  paper  indicated  in  the  accompanying 
bibliography.  I  had  come  to  the  Dry  Tortugas 
with  the  idea  that  I  would  see  and  become  ac- 
quainted with  water-birds  that  were  new  to  me ; 
but  fifty-seven  kinds  met  with  were  land-birds,  a 
marked  preponderance.  Therefore  it  is  mainly 
regarding  passeres  that  my  contributions  from 
these  remote  islands  are  of  value.  The  conclu- 
sions I  arrived  at  from  watching  the  migration 
were  that  the  birds  of  the  Florida  peninsula,  which 
have  become  specialized  so  as  to  present  tangible 
characteristics  in  appearance,  are  not  migratory  in 
a  large  sense,  but  are  restricted  to  comparatively 
limited  areas  which  they  do  not  leave.  For  in- 
stance, the  white-eyed  vireo  is  a  migrant  bird  in 
the  eastern  United  States,  passing  southward  to 
the  island  of  Cuba,  and  even  farther  south  in  the 
winter,  and  the  white-eyed  vireo  was  a  common 


28o  THE   STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

migrant  at  the  Dry  Tortugas.  Now  the  represen- 
tative of  the  white-eyed  vireo  which  resides  in 
southern  Florida,  and  which  has  become  so  spe- 
cialized in  appearance  as  to  receive  an  appellation 
of  its  own,  the  Key  West  vireo,  was  not  observed 
at  the  Dry  Tortugas.  Similarly,  the  Maryland 
yellow-throat,  which  is  a  common  migrant  on  the 
eastern  coast  of  North  America,  was  observed 
continually  during  my  stay;  while  its  near  ally, 
the  Florida  yellow-throat,  characteristic  of  the 
Gulf  Coast  of  Florida,  and  which  breeds  there, 
was  not  present,  and  has  never  been  observed 
away  from  Florida.  The  generalization  to  be 
made  from  these  observations  is  that  these  spe- 
cialized forms  have  developed  from  closely  allied 
kinds,  largely  as  they  have  acquired  non-migra- 
tory habits. 

During  the  interval  which  had  elapsed  since  my 
return  to  Florida  in  1886,  concluding  with  my 
work  in  the  year  1890,  I  had  collected  much 
material ;  four  months  which  were  spent  in  the 
mountains  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  had 
added  to  this. 

An  undescribed  species  of  marsh-wren,  a  new 
sub-species  of  the  white-bellied  nuthatch,  and  the 
determination  of  the  wild  turkey  of  Florida  as  a 
sub-species,  were  parts  of  the  contribution.  In 
view  of  the  fact  that  I  have  not  seen  in  collec- 
tions, nor  found  in  any  locality  where  I  have 


THE  GULF  COAST  OF  FLORIDA  281 

studied,  Georgia,  north  Florida,  or  the  Carolinas, 
intermediates  in  color  and  markings  grading  into 
the  other  forms  of  wild  turkey,  or  white-bellied 
nuthatch,  I  now  regard  both  these  birds,  not  as 
sub-species,  but  as  well  marked,  specific  forms. 

Also  during  this  time  I  sent  to  my  friend,  Mr. 
J.  A.  Allen  of  New  York,  a  seaside  sparrow,  from 
the  salt-water  marshes  of  Florida,  knowing  it  to 
be  a  new  race.  In  the  same  way  I  placed  a  series 
of  a  new  kind  of  rail  with  the  late  George  B.  Sen- 
nett,  Esq.,  who  was  then  writing  a  monograph  on 
the  salt  water  rails  of  North  America.  I  was 
fully  aware  in  sending  him  the  bird  that  it  was 
undescribed,  and  he  did  me  the  honor  to  name 
it  after  me.  To  Mr.  Frank  M.  Chapman  of  the 
American  Museum  of  Natural  History  I  for- 
warded a  series  of  the  prototype  of  the  Maryland 
yellow-throat  as  it  exists  in  Florida,  which  I  felt 
sure  indicated  at  least  sub-specific  distinction. 
In  this  matter  Mr.  Chapman  agreed  with  me,  and 
duly  described  the  new  birds ;  so  that  during  this 
period  I  had  found  in  a  country  where  naturalists 
had  been  working  for  many  years,  six  undescribed 
forms  of  bird  life.  Nor  was  there  effort  on  my 
part  in  this  direction.  These  were  episodes  in 
the  routine  of  work  that  was  being  carried  on. 

In  a  manner  satisfactory  to  ornithologists,  I 
established  the  specific  identity  of  two  supposed 
different  forms  known  respectively  as  the  short- 


282  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

tailed  and  little  black  hawks.  These  birds  had 
been  long  known ;  but  it  remained  to  find  them 
breeding,  and  to  deduce  from  observation  the 
generalization  that  the  difference  in  appearance 
which  had  led  naturalists  to  consider  them  spe- 
cifically distinct  was  either  a  color-phase,  corre- 
lating with  sex,  or,  what  is  more  probable,  a 
double  color-phase,  such  as  exists  in  the  common 
screech-owl,  numerous  birds  of  prey,  as  well  as  in 
some  of  the  herons.  At  the  Dry  Tortugas,  where 
my  contributions  were  chiefly  concerning  land- 
birds,  I  observed  two  kinds  of  swallows,  the 
Cuban  cliff  swallow  and  the  Bahaman  swallow, 
which  had  never  before  been  recorded  from 
North  America.  During  all  this  period  contri- 
butions were  constantly  made  to  technical  ornith- 
ological magazines  recording  the  results  of  work 
as  it  was  accomplished ;  the  titles  of  these  papers 
form  part  of  the  bibliographic  list  appended  to 
this  book. 

I  wish  it  were  in  my  power  to  express  in  con- 
cluding this  chapter  my  appreciation  of  the  beauty 
and  variety  of  landscape  in  Florida,  and  to  dwell 
more  fully  upon  the  never-failing  source  of  delight 
afforded  by  its  many  waterways  and  the  noble 
Gulf  which  bounds  its  western  shores.  The  vast 
hammocks,  with  their  imposing  live-oak  trees 
festooned  with  Spanish  moss,  where  great  mag- 
nolia trees  shade  under  their  overhanging  limbs 


THE   GULF   COAST   OF   FLORIDA  283 

groves  of  wild  oranges,  and  where  the  variety 
of  plant  life  seems  most  luxuriant;  the  cypress 
swamps,  gloomy  and  funereal  in  appearance, 
which  are  the  homes  of  the  ivory-billed  wood- 
pecker, the  swallow-tailed  kite,  and  the  resorts  of 
deer  and  bear;  the  great  prairies  of  southern 
Florida  dotted  with  islands  of  palmetto  and  pine, 
are  some  of  the  regions  that  indicate  the  variety 
presented  to  the  traveller.  But  the  salient  char- 
acteristic of  Florida  is  the  endless  pine  forest  that 
practically  covers  the  entire  State.  By  many 
people  these  woods  and  forests  are  regarded  as 
extremely  monotonous,  tiresome,  and  in  no  way 
pleasing.  For  my  own  part,  I  have  never  ceased 
to  wonder  at  their  beauty.  In  no  two  regions  of 
Florida  do  they  present  exactly  the  same  char- 
acter. The  variety  in  form  is  endless;  an  ever 
changing  picture  is  revealed,  heightened  by  the 
interspersal  of  a  varied  undergrowth,  palmetto, 
oak,  and  bay,  and  by  the  local  light  and  color. 
These  forests  appealed  to  me  for  many  years ; 
and  for  a  long  time  I  felt  alone  in  caring  for  them, 
until  at  an  exhibition  of  some  of  the  work  of  the 
late  George  Inness  I  saw  these  very  woods  again 
in  all  their  beauty.  Of  the  waterways  much  has 
been  said,  and  little  can  be  added.  They  must 
be  seen  to  be  appreciated,  and  lived  upon  to  be 
enjoyed.  It  is  even  so  with  the  Mighty  Gulf ! 


CHAPTER  XI 

FLORIDA    PRAIRIES    AND   VIRGINIA    MOUNTAINS 

THE  land  of  pine  forest  and  cypress  swamp, 
of  lakes  and  everglades,  of  seashore  and  river, 
seems  to  offer  in  these  prodigal  diversity.  It 
needs  only  mountains  and  great  plains  to  round 
out  the  variety  of  physiographic  conditions. 
There  are  no  mountains ;  but  the  plain  region  of 
Florida  is  not  only  well  marked,  but  is  extensive. 
These  plains  are  situated  in  south  Florida  north- 
west of  Lake  Okeechobee.  The  Kissimmee  River, 
in  its  lower  stretches,  runs  through  their  eastern 
border,  and  the  upper  waters  of  the  Caloosahatchee 
bound  their  limits  to  the  south.  The  "  Big 
Prairie,"  which  I  visited  in  April,  1892,  reaches 
from  the  "  hammock "  that  fringes  the  northern 
bank  of  the  Caloosa  River,  north  to  Fort  Ogden, 
a  distance  of  forty  miles.  It  is  at  its  widest  point 
thirty  miles  broad  and  its  narrowest  breadth  is 
upward  of  twenty  miles.  This  plain  is  without 
undulation,  and  is  very  even  as  to  surface.  Dur- 
ing the  rainy  season  slight  depressions  become 
ponds  or  lakes  of  varying  extent,  and  at  times 

284 


FLORIDA  PRAIRIES  AND  VIRGINIA  MOUNTAINS     285 

of  unusual  precipitation  nearly  the  entire  area  is 
submerged,  suggesting  the  probability  that  this 
was  once  the  floor  of  a  sheet  of  water  similar  to 
Lake  Okeechobee. 

Coarse  wiry  grasses,  a  growth  of  dwarf  huckle- 
berry, and  scrubby  clumps  of  saw  palmetto  are 
the  characteristic  forms  of  plant  life.  Now  and 
again  at  long  intervals  the  monotony  of  the  scene 
is  varied.  Isolated  patches  of  pine  forest  of  a  few 
acres,  and  small  "  bayheads  "  of  deciduous  trees, 
appear  above  the  level,  like  miniature  islands  in  a 
lake.  The  conditions  that  obtain  are  not  unlike 
parts  of  the  prairies  in  Texas,  and  a  similar,  arid, 
desolate  appearance  distinguishes  both.  Mak- 
ing a  camp  in  the  hammock  near  the  river, 
for  a  week  in  April,  daily  trips  were  undertaken, 
to  learn  something  of  the  bird  life  that  charac- 
terized this  prairie. 

Birds  there  were  in  abundance  and  variety. 
Wild  turkeys,  pileated  woodpeckers,  sandhill 
cranes,  ducks,  and  herons  abounded ;  besides 
throngs  of  many  kinds  of  small  birds  were  every- 
where. While  these  presented  groups  of  sufficient 
interest,  they  were  not  what  I  sought  to  study  in 
visiting  this  remote  place. 

One  of  the  birds  of  the  plains  characteristic  of 
the  plains  was  prominent ;  the  burrowing  owl  was 
plentiful,  and  generally  distributed.  This  last  con- 
dition precludes  one  of  the  salient  habits  of  these 


286  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

owls  in  the  "  prairie-dog  towns  " — gregariousness ; 
for  there  are  no  prairie-dogs  on  these  prairies,  and 
the  little  owls  are  forced  to  make  their  own  bur- 
rows, which  are  widely  scattered.  My  stay  was  co- 
incident with  the  height  of  the  breeding  season. 
The  burrows,  excavated  as  dwelling  places,  were 
also  used  for  breeding,  and  at  the  mouth  of  each 
domicile  was  a  little  hillock  of  sand,  the  proprietor 
or  joint  owners  often  standing  on  this  elevated 
porch  to  view  the  surroundings.  Visitors  were 
greeted  by  them  with  the  same  bowings,  nods, 
and  antics  that  are  marked  traits  of  their  Western 
cousins.  Too  close  an  approach,  though  the 
birds  were  not  timid  or  wary,  often  caused  them, 
instead  of  flying,  suddenly  to  disappear  into  the 
burrow.  These  excavations,  several  of  which 
were  explored,  were  generally  about  eight  feet  in 
length  and  some  seven  inches  in  diameter.  They 
rarely  penetrated  more  than  eighteen  inches  below 
the  surface,  when  they  turned  at  an  easy  curve 
and  were  extended  parallel  to  the  top  of  the 
ground.  The  site  for  such  a  residence  was  more 
frequently  in  or  near  a  clump  of  the  dwarf,  stunted 
huckleberry  growth.  At  the  end  the  burrow  was 
enlarged  into  a  chamber,  and  here  the  round  white 
eggs,  from  four  to  seven  in  number,  were  laid 
There  was  but  little  attempt  at  nest  making. 
Usually  the  eggs  lay  on  a  thin  bed  of  cow-dung, 
dry  trash,  and  a  few  feathers.  This  sort  of 


FLORIDA  PRAIRIES  AND  VIRGINIA  MOUNTAINS     287 

material  littered  the  floor  of  the  burrow  through- 
out. Rattlesnakes  were  plentiful  on  this  prairie, 
but  no  communal  relations  with  the  owls  had 
been  established. 

The  other  notable  bird  of  the  region  was  the 
caracara  eagle.  It  was  conspicuous  on  account 
of  its  party-colored  plumage,  and  its  peculiar 
flight  and  strident,  cackling  cry  at  once  arrested 
attention.  I  found  three  nests  of  this  eagle  con- 
taining young  almost  ready  to  fly.  Two  nests 
were  in  cabbage  palmettos  and  one  in  a  pine. 
They  were  all  about  twenty  feet  from  the  ground. 
The  caracaras  were  not  shy,  and  were  as  great 
nuisances  about  camp  as  the  Canada  jay  is  in 
the  North.  Their  size  allowed  the  pilfering  of 
objects  of  some  weight ;  a  duck  or  rabbit  being 
readily  carried  off. 

I  have  gone  into  the  history  of  these  two  birds 
for  the  reason  that  here  is  a  comparatively  small 
isolated  prairie  presenting  conditions  similar  to 
regions  in  Texas.  The  nearest  point  in  Texas  is 
seven  hundred  miles  away.  In  the  intervening 
region  there  are  no  burrowing  owls  and  no  cara- 
cara eagles ;  but  both  of  these  birds  are  character- 
istic of  the  arid  plains  of  Texas.  There  are  some 
miniature  prairies  on  the  larger  islands  of  the 
Bahama  group.  Here  again  the  burrowing  owl 
is  characteristic.  Throughout  the  great  pampas 
and  arid  dry  stretches  of  South  America,  away 


288  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

to  Patagonia,  conditions  prevail  similar  to  those 
of  the  prairies  of  North  America,  and  burrowing 
owls  and  caracaras  flourish.  A  specialized  terri- 
tory cropping  out  at  far  distant  points  on  the 
same  hemisphere  is  accompanied  with  certain 
specialized  birds  found  nowhere  else,  but  which 
are  common  to  all  such  regions. 

The  warmer  portion  of  the  year  in  Florida  is 
enervating,  and  it  was  an  advantage,  from  a 
working  point  of  view,  to  have  a  climatic  change. 
One  excursion  to  a  cooler  and  more  bracing 
climate  was  to  the  elevated  region  in  the  south- 
western part  of  Virginia.  Here  the  peaks  of  the 
Blue  Ridge  attain  a  height  of  more  than  four 
thousand  feet.  On  almost  the  summit  of  one  of 
these  (to  be  exact,  forty-one  hundred  feet  above 
sea  level)  is  an  oval  lake  a  mile  long  and  a  third 
of  a  mile  across  at  its  broadest  part.  A  fringe 
of  laurel  reaches  to  the  edge  of  the  water,  often 
overhanging  it.  This  changes  insensibly  into  a 
dense  growth  of  luxuriant  rhododendron,  which, 
in  its  turn,  fades  into  a  sombre  hemlock  forest. 
At  evening  on  a  June  day  the  color  reflected 
from  this  frame  in  the  placid  waters  is  alone 
worth  a  long  journey  to  look  upon.  The  laurel 
and  rhododendron,  always  beautiful,  are  at  their 
best  when  in  flower,  and  the  mass  of  bloom  and 
depth  of  color  seem  to  culminate  here ;  for  in  the 
mirror  all  are  duplicated  and  one  sees  four  instead 


FLORIDA  PRAIRIES  AND  VIRGINIA  MOUNTAINS     289 

of  two  bands  of  gorgeous  tints  and  hues  wreath- 
ing the  shores. 

In  the  woods,  a  little  earlier  in  the  season,  aza- 
lias  of  the  flame-colored  variety  blossom  in  pro- 
fusion, and  throughout  the  summer  a  prolific 
succession  of  many-hued  wild  flowers  delight  the 
sojourner. 

The  songs  of  the  veery  and  solitary  vireo  ring 
through  the  hemlocks,  snowbird's  nests  are  more 
common  than  chipping-sparrows  by  the  roadsides, 
while  red-breasted  nuthatches  rear  their  young  on 
the  edge  of  every  clearing.  Yellow-bellied  sap- 
suckers  are  the  commonest  breeding  woodpeckers, 
and  olive-sided  flycatchers  are  not  rare.  The 
Canada  fly-catching  warbler  is  almost  as  frequently 
met  with  as  the  snowbird,  and  together  with  the 
Blackburnian,  the  black- throated  blue  and  the 
black-throated  green  warblers,  form  a  group 
whose  members  are  conspicuous  during  the 
breeding  season.  Ravens  and  pileated  wood- 
peckers are  to  be  seen  daily,  and  the  voice  of 
the  turkey  has  not  been  silenced.  Bird  life  is 
not  only  varied,  for  only  the  most  notable  kinds 
have  been  indicated,  it  is  redundant. 

But  you  began  to  talk  of  Virginia,  the  land  of 
the  redbird  and  mocker!  Of  the  magnolia  and 
persimmon !  Yes,  but  this  is  an  island.  Not  an 
island  in  the  water,  but  in  the  air.  For  at  high 
altitudes  the  conditions  of  more  northern  low- 


290  THE   STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

lands  prevail,  and  it  is  the  climate,  fauna,  and  flora 
of  Maine  or  New  Hampshire  that  distinguishes 
the  summit  of  the  Blue  Ridge  at  the  point  under 
discussion.  Not  every  feature  is  present,  and  some 
details  are  added,  but  considered  from  a  large 
point  of  view  no  other  conclusion  can  be  drawn. 
This  is  an  Alpine  island,  possessing  sufficiently 
definite  characters  to  warrant  its  inclusion  in  the 
Canadian  faunal  zone. 

And  the  same  is  true  in  regard  to  elevation  at 
any  point.  It  need  only  attain  to  sufficient  height, 
and  the  conditions  that  prevail  there  (average 
temperature  and  precipitation  are  perhaps  chief 
among  them)  produce  a  fauna  and  flora  similar  to 
that  found  in  adjacent  land  areas  to  the  north 
and  at  sea  level.  One  has  only  to  look  at  a  high 
peak  with  its  perpetual  cap  of  ice  and  snow  to 
see  an  arctic  island,  and  on  its  slopes  will  be  found 
the  parallel  of  a  journey  to  the  arctic  zone. 

Mountain  Lake,  in  Giles  County,  Virginia,  is 
the  "  Canadian  Island  "  I  have  pictured.  There 
are  similar  regions  extending  down  into  the 
Carolinas  and  almost  overlooking  Florida  from 
Georgia. 


CHAPTER  XII 

XAYMACA;  THE  ISLAND  OF  MANY  RIVERS 

"THE  privileges  of  the  white  man  in  Hayti  are 
not  numerous,  but  exemplary  conduct  on  his  part 
always  enables  him  to  overcome  the  social  dis- 
advantages attaching  to  his  unfortunate  color." 
This  epigrammatic  sentence,  embodying  the  spirit 
of  the  Haytian  Constitution,  we  heard  from  a 
fellow-passenger  on  the  stanch  British  steam- 
ship Alene  of  the  Atlas  Line,  commanded  by  a 
thorough-going  Yankee  sea-captain,  which  con- 
veyed our  party  to  Jamaica,  West  Indies,  in  the 
autumn  of  1890. 

We  laughed  heartily  over  the  reversal  of  the 
white  man's  position  in  the  Black  Republic  set 
forth  by  Mr.  W ,  and  half  believed  it  a  travel- 
ler's tale.  Our  own  amusing,  annoying,  not  to 
say  humiliating,  experiences  later  on  in  an  island 
whose  black  population  is  six  hundred  thousand 
and  whose  resident  whites  number  less  than 
fifteen  thousand,  made  the  story  quite  credible. 
We  came  to  understand  how  a  black  man  may 
feel  in  a  white  man's  country.  But  we  had  no 
misgivings  during  the  voyage,  every  moment  was 

291 


292  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

a  delight.  The  cold  November  weather  gave 
way  as  we  sailed  southward.  The  gray  sky,  the 
grayer  sea  with  its  cross  waves  and  huge  rollers, 
were  soon  left  behind ;  we  entered  the  region  of 
enchantment,  —  deep  blue  sky  above,  deep  blue 
ocean  below;  flying  fishes,  tropic  birds,  petrels, 
and  boobies,  adding  life  to  the  scene. 

On  November  12  we  sighted  San  Salvador, 
the  landfall  of  Columbus.  On  the  i4th  the 
mountains  of  Hayti  were  plainly  visible.  As 
darkness  came  on  we  saw  the  Southern  Cross  for 
the  first  time,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  i5th 
entered  the  harbor  of  Kingston.  The  previous 
night  had  been  one  of  sleeplessness  and  discomfort, 
spent  in  vainly  attempting  to  adjust  the  wind-sail 
in  our  port  to  the  shifting  courses  of  the  ship,  as 
we  cruised  about  just  outside  the  harbor,  it  being 
too  late  to  enter,  because  of  the  dangerous  reefs. 

Waking  from  a  brief  nap  at  the  gray  of  dawn, 
the  outlines  of  the  mountains  loomed  up  boldly 
through  the  dim  light,  Blue  Mountain  Peak  lift- 
ing its  superb  height  seven  thousand  feet  and 
more  above  us.  The  first  rays  of  the  sun  lighted 
peaks  and  canons,  throwing  them  into  boldest 
relief.  The  mountains  in  contour  and  coloring 
called  to  mind  at  once  those  of  the  familiar  Santa 
Catalina's.  The  beautiful  bay  stretched  away  to 
the  city  six  miles  distant,  the  long  low  line  of  Port 
Royal  fringed  with  cocoanut  palms  forming  its 


XAYMACA;   THE   ISLAND   OF   MANY  RIVERS     293 

eastern  boundary.  On  the  land  green  deepened 
to  black  and  purple  in  the  shadows  of  the  moun- 
tains, in  the  bay  opaline  hues  darkened  in  the 
depths  of  the  water. 

We  reached  Kingston  wharf  at  eight  o'clock, 
greeted  by  a  noisy,  demonstrative  crowd,  grading 
in  color  from  cafe  au  lait  to  ebony,  and  speaking 
a  gibberish  all  unknown  to  us,  English  though  it 
was.  My  letters  of  introduction  to  the  governor 
and  other  prominent  officials  saved  me  much 
annoyance  in  getting  through  the  customs.  My 
scientific  equipment  was  admitted  free  of  duty. 

No  sooner  had  we  left  the  ship  than  a  line  of 
black  cabbies  assailed  us,  importunate,  vociferous, 
and  as  bare-faced  in  their  demands  as  those  of  our 
native  land.  Resisting  all  their  efforts  at  extortion, 
we  finally  made  a  fair  bargain,  and  got  off  in  a 
two-seated  trap  drawn  by  a  poor  little  rack-a-bones 
of  a  horse.  We  found  ourselves  at  once  in  a  tropi- 
cal town.  The  narrow  streets  were  crowded  with 
shops  on  either  side,  wares  of  all  kinds  displayed 
in  heterogeneous  confusion,  —  dried  fish,  heaps  of 
strange  fruits,  gay-colored  stuffs,  rum,  whiskey, 
strings  of  dried  peppers,  with  an  occasional  es- 
tablishment devoted  exclusively  to  dry  goods  or 
hardware.  More  than  occasional  were  the  exclu- 
sive rumshops.  Leaving  the  business  streets 
behind  we  came  to  the  region  of  houses,  —  small 
cottages  built  close  to  the  street,  villas  behind 


294  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

high  walls  of  concrete,  all  of  dazzling  whiteness, 
draped  with  creepers,  overhung  with  masses  of* 
vivid  poinsettia,  tall  palm  trees  lifting  their  stately 
heads  in  the  background. 

The  procession  of  peasants  coming  to  market 
began  to  pass  us,  for  it  was  Saturday,  singly  and 
in  groups  of  three  or  four,  the  women  bearing 
heavy  burdens  on  their  heads.  The  diminutive 
donkeys  which  they  drove  carried  panniers  heaped 
with  yams,  sweet  potatoes,  charcoal,  grass,  and 
sugar-cane,  and  now  and  again  groaned  under  the 
weight  of  a  lazy  master.  Short  skirts,  caught  up 
with  a  curious  hitch  suggesting  a  reversed  bustle, 
loose  jackets,  bare  legs  and  feet,  turbans  of  brill- 
iant colors,  rags  and  tatters,  characterize  the 
drivers  as  they  trot  rapidly  past  with  merry  smile 
and  a  quaint  courtesy  in  return  for  our  greetings. 
The  occasional  men  of  the  party  meanwhile  trudge- 
stolidly  along,  passing  us  unnoticed,  their  only  bur- 
den a  machete  carried  in  the  hand  or  on  the  head. 

And  so  it  continued,  this  never  ending  proces- 
sion, till  we  reached  the  gates  of  Constant  Spring 
Hotel,  six  miles  distant  from  the  city.  Thus  far 
we  had  seen  few  birds,  save  the  "  John  Crows," 
turkey-buzzards  circling  just  above  the  house-tops, 
and  tick  birds  (anis)  walking  on  the  grass  by  the 
roadside.  The  ani  is  a  slim  bird,  with  a  body  a 
little  larger  than  that  of  a  cow-bird,  and  a  long  tail. 
The  color  is  black,  and  the  glossy  feathers  are 


XAYMACA;   THE   ISLAND   OF   MANY  RIVERS     295 

lanceolate  in  shape  with  iridescent  metallic  sheen, 
steel-blue,  purple,  and  green,  of  varying  intensity. 
The  bill,  however,  is  the  distinguishing  feature. 
It  is  compressed  laterally,  and  resembles  the 
blade  of  an  ink  eraser,  being  about  the  same 
size,  proportion,  and  of  similar  contour.  Anis 
are  gregarious,  but  do  not  assemble  in  large 
flocks.  Rarely  are  more  than  six  or  eight  found 
in  company,  and  a  solitary  individual  is  excep- 
tional. Nor  do  the  birds  pair  in  the  ordinary 
sense  at  mating  time.  Many  work  together  in 
the  construction  of  a  large  communistic  nest, 
where  all  the  females  of  the  company  lay  their 
eggs.  Twenty-one  eggs  have  been  taken  from  a 
single  nest,  but  the  number  is  not  generally  so 
large.  The  site  is  frequently  in  a  bunch  of 
mistletoe,  always  well  up  in  the  tree. 

Anis,  while  not  exclusively  insectivorous,  are 
almost  wholly  so.  Larvae  and  grubs,  in  the  drop- 
pings of  cattle  and  in  the  ground,  are  eagerly 
sought.  But  it  is  as  an  enemy  of  the  grass-tick 
that  the  bird  is  noted.  These  minute  parasites, 
whether  among  the  blades  of  grass  or  in  the 
hair  of  cattle,  are  hunted  with  avidity.  Numbers 
of  the  birds  may  often  be  seen  carefully  search- 
ing through  the  hair  of  some  patient  cow  or  ox  in 
repose,  and  a  band  of  grazing  animals  is  always 
attended  by  a  party  of  these  industrious  hunters. 
They  walk  about  on  the  bodies  of  their  bovine 


296  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

friends  as  freely  as  on  the  ground,  with  a  delibera- 
tion that  indicates  perfect  freedom  from  fear.  The 
ani  is  a  member  of  the  cuckoo  family,  and  is 
among  the  more  characteristic  of  the  West 
Indian  birds.  It  is  not  a  little  curious  that  in 
certain  of  its  traits  the  cow-bird  closely  resembles 
the  ani,  and  the  cow-bird's  habit  of  laying  eggs  in 
other  birds'  nests  is  found  in  another  representa- 
tive of  the  cuckoo  group. 

Comfortable  quarters  awaited  us  at  the  English- 
American  inn,  established  this  winter  with  expec- 
tation of  extended  patronage;  for  the  much-heralded 
West  Indian  Exposition  was  to  open  the  first  of 
February.  We  had  no  desire  to  linger  in  this 
tourist-ridden  spot,  but  began  within  a  day  or  two 
to  seek  a  suburban  place  where  my  work  could 
be  carried  on  without  interruption.  Before  start- 
ing on  our  quest  I  called  at  King's  House,  pre- 
sented my  letter  of  introduction  to  Sir  Henry 
Blake,  the  governor,  received  from  him  a  cordial 
welcome,  and  the  official  sanction  to  carry  on  my 
investigation  of  the  bird  life  of  the  island.  Lady 
Blake  took  us  through  the  beautiful  gardens, 
pointed  out  the  many  rare  and  strange  plants,  and 
showed  us  her  interesting  drawings  and  paintings 
of  the  bats  of  Jamaica,  of  which  she  has  made  a 
careful  study. 

Our  American  consul,  Mr. ,  interested  him- 
self in  our  behalf,  and  furnished  us  with  a  list  of 


XAYMACA;   THE   ISLAND   OF   MANY  RIVERS     297 

the  various  "pens"  in  the  neighborhood  "to  be 
let."  A  "  pen  "  in  Jamaica  means  a  country  place 
of  more  or  less  acreage.  "  Nightingale  Grove  " 
had  attractions.  The  grounds  were  ample,  the 
house  of  the  prevailing  type,  two  storied,  with 
broad,  spreading  roof  and  jalousied  verandas, 
answered  our  needs  very  well;  but  the  "brown 
lady"  was  only  willing  to  take  us  as  lodgers. 
"  The  Retreat "  was  charmingly  located  about  a 
half-mile  from  the  hotel,  embowered  in  the  shade 
of  the  great  silk-cotton  trees,  with  bananas,  bread- 
fruit, palms,  and  fantastic  creepers  offering  ideal 
cover  for  birds.  But  here  madam  was  obdurate; 
we  could  have  three  bedrooms  and  "the  run  of 
the  drawing-room  "  for  ^10  sterling  a  month,  but 
she  could  not  consent  to  give  up  the  entire  house 
to  us;  and  this  notwithstanding  the  place  was 
advertised  for  rent. 

We  soon  learned  that  it  was  almost  impossible 
to  make  any  bargain  with  the  average  Jamaican, 
who  is  wholly  unwilling  to  be  held  by  his  own 
terms.  Exhausting  the  lists  of  near-by  places, 
and  finding  none  available,  we  drove  one  after- 
noon to  Stony  Hill. 

Groves  of  bananas,  beds  of  ferns,  carpets  of 
lycopodium,  clusters  of  orchids,  are  the  fore- 
ground of  the  wooded  hills  through  which  winds 
the  road.  Built  in  the  far-away  days  of  slave 
labor,  it  is  still  a  model  of  excellence,  firm,  and  of 


298  THE   STORY  OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

easy  grade.  A  thousand  feet  up  is  the  reforma- 
tory, at  the  top  of  the  first  ridge,  overlooking  the 
Liguanea  Plain  and  the  sea.  A  well-kept  barrack- 
like  building  houses  the  children,  while  the  cottages 
of  the  officials  are  grouped  picturesquely  on  the 
wide-spreading  lawn. 

The  school  is  well  maintained,  and  the  boys 
are  taught  trades.     We  were  introduced  to  the 

Superintendent,   Mr.  W ,   the    sole   survivor 

of  the  Morant  Bay  rebellion,  of  the  time  of 
Governor  Eyre  of  "  infamous  memory."  Later, 
as  our  neighbor,  we  learned  from  him  the  true 
story  of  the  insurrection,  and  modified  the 
opinions  which,  as  right-thinking  abolitionists, 
we  had  always  held.  But  that  will  come  in  due 
order.  Leaving  the  reformatory  we  drove  home- 
ward, stopping  at  "  Fort  George  "  as  directed  by 

Mr.    W .     Well   back   from    the   road,   from 

which  it  was  completely  hidden,  and  fully  three 
hundred  feet  above,  we  found  the  cottage.  The 
location  of  the  estate  on  the  verge  of  a  steep  acclivity 
commanding  the  whole  lower  world  of  hills,  plain, 
and  sea,  made  the  name  well  chosen.  A  wealth 
of  trees,  shrubs,  and  creepers,  formed  the  surround- 
ings. Miss  F ,  the  owner,  an  English  lady, 

was  willing  to  let  the  second  story  of  her  house 
with  outside  kitchen.  We  engaged  the  lodgings 
for  £6  sterling  a  month,  and  the  following  day 
took  possession. 


XAYMACA:   THE   ISLAND   OF   MANY  RIVERS     299 

Here  my  field-work  went  on  uninterruptedly 
for  six  weeks.  A  stroll  through  the  grounds 
revealed  a  variety  of  small  birds  represented  in 
numbers.  There  were  many  of  our  warblers 
present,  passing  the  winter  season.  The  black 
and  white  creeper,  the  parula,  the  Cape  May,  the 
black-throated  blue  and  myrtle  warblers,  might 
constantly  be  seen.  Swainson's  and  the  worm- 
eating  warbler,  as  well  as  the  oven-bird  and  the 
two  kinds  of  water-thrushes  found  in  eastern 
North  America,  were  all  present.  The  redstart 
was  abundant,  as  was  the  Maryland  yellowthroat. 
A  tiny  white-eyed  vireo  peculiar  to  the  island,  and 
the  black  and  yellow  honey-creeper,  a  small  blue 
tanager  with  a  rufous  patch  on  the  throat  called 
the  "  blue  quit,"  and  the  mountain  bullfinch  or 
cashew-bird,  were  among  the  commoner  tropical 
insular  forms. 

A  small  grass-green  tody,  with  a  vivid  scarlet 
throat,  reminded  one  of  his  near  relative  the  king- 
fisher ;  all  the  characteristic  movements  were  the 
same.  Perched  on  a  dead  twig,  only  a  motion  of 
the  head  indicated  attention.  The  swoop  from 
the  point  of  vantage  and  return  to  it  with  a  luck- 
less grasshopper  or  beetle  were  kingfisher-like  in 
all  details.  Then  the  captured  prey  was  beaten  to 
death  by  the  conspicuously  large  bill,  and  finally 
a  backward  toss  of  the  head  accompanied  the 
swallowing  of  the  morsel. 


3oo  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

Like  a  house-wren  in  size,  but  with  a  shorter 
tail,  the  whole  contour  is  that  of  a  kingfisher  in 
miniature,  and  the  tiny  glossy  white  eggs  are  laid 
in  a  Liliputian  burrow  excavated  in  some  bank. 
Swallows  were  here,  too.  Home  was  recalled 
by  the  familiar  denizens  of  bank  and  barn,  but 
the  Cuban  cliff-swallow  and  the  great  blue 
swallow,  as  well  as  its  golden  ally,  needed  in- 
troduction. 

Each  day  discovered  new  treasures,  and  the 
interest  awakened  by  them  more  than  compen- 
sated for  any  trivial  annoyance  caused  by  the 
difficulties  of  housekeeping.  The  domestic  prob- 
lems of  Fort  George  were  many  and  varied.  Our 
apartment  on  the  second  floor  was  ample,  com- 
prising dining-room  and  drawing-room  and  three 
bedrooms.  A  jalousied  gallery,  twelve  feet  wide 
and  some  thirty-five  in  length,  extended  across 
the  eastern  front  of  the  house,  forming  living  and 
work  room.  The  jalousies  permitted  the  free  in- 
gress of  the  trade-wind,  the  beneficent  "doctor" 
that  every  morning  about  ten  o'clock  comes  to 
temper  the  tropical  heat.  The  floors  were  of 
solid  mahogany,  hewn  out  by  rude  implements  in 
slave  days,  with  the  polish  given  by  a  hundred 
years  of  constant  use.  The  furniture  was  an- 
tique and  hand-made,  solid  and  cumbersome,  as 
though  built  for  giants  —  plainly  the  workman- 
ship of  the  patient  slave. 


XAYMACA;  THE   ISLAND   OF   MANY  RIVERS    301 

Our  contract  provided  for  a  kitchen  having  an 
American  cooking  stove,  as  the  landlady  ex- 
plained with  pride ;  but  this  room  we  did  not 
inspect  on  our  first  visit.  Lacking  experience  in 
West  Indian  ways,  Mrs.  Scott  assumed  that  the 
kitchen  and  its  furnishings  would  serve  our  needs. 
We  drove  up  from  the  hotel  in  leisurely  fashion 
after  luncheon,  and  having  unpacked  certain 
possessions,  began  to  think  of  dinner.  Mrs.  Scott 
with  her  two  maids,  the  cook,  Margaret  Douglas, 
and  the  butler,  Letitia  Pink,  departed  to  take 
possession  of  the  kitchen.  The  perturbed  state 
of  mind  of  the  housewife  responsible  for  the  daily 
provisioning  of  a  family  may  be  imagined,  when 
she  found,  on  entering,  a  small  room  of  closetlike 
dimensions,  with  dirt  floor,  rough  and  unkempt, 
one  end  slightly  higher  than  the  other,  and  on 
this  mound  of  earth  a  tiny  "  American  cooking 
stove,"  minus  pipe,  doors,  covers,  and  legs,  the 
only  utensil  a  little  "  shetpon,"  or  tin  bucket.  As 
there  was  no  hope  here,  an  alcohol  stove  was 
called  into  immediate  requisition,  and  furnished 
the  cup  of  chocolate  which,  with  boiled  eggs, 
bread  and  butter,  composed  our  first  dinner  at 
Fort  George. 

Our  landlady  could  do  nothing;  the  kitchen 
answered  her  needs,  why  not  ours?  The  next 
day  we  went  in  to  Kingston,  made  the  purchase 
of  two  coal  oil  stoves  and  the  necessary  pots  and 


302  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

pans.  Light  housekeeping  then  went  on  in  fair 
fashion.  Fruits  and  vegetables  passed  the  gar- 
den gate  constantly  on  the  heads  of  the  market 
women.  Margaret  Douglas  was  thoroughly 
trustworthy,  and  knowing  how  to  deal  in  the 
small  coins  of  the  realm,  "  quatties,"  "  tups,"  and 
"  bits,"  made  wonderful  bargains,  and  kept  us  well 
supplied  with  "  heggs,"  "  pinehapples,"  mangoes, 
"horanges,"  bananas,  "honions,"  cabbages,  bread- 
fruit, yams,  and  yampies.  On  market  day  Marga- 
ret went  in  to  Kingston  on  foot  and  bought  fresh 
meat,  poultry,  groceries,  and  came  trudging  back 
with  her  burden  of  eighty  pounds  poised  on  her 
head,  happy  and  smiling,  pleased  with  the  sense 
of  our  confidence. 

We  had  much  amusement  in  our  shopping,  for 
it  was  at  the  chemist's  that  we  purchased  our  milk, 
butter,  cheese,  potted  meats,  and  preserves.  To 
be  sure,  the  milk  was  tinned,  as  was  the  butter, 
and  the  latter  of  the  brand  known  as  "  Manteca 
de  Goshen,"  highly  recommended,  but  strongly 
suggesting  axle-grease.  Bread  was  poor,  because 
the  high  import  duties  made  it  impossible  to  bring 
in  good  flour.  The  grade  employed  for  bill-board 
paste  in  the  United  States  is  that  in  general  use. 

Mr.  W ,  our  neighbor  at  the  Reformatory, 

gave  us  a  graphic  description  of  the  rebellion  of 
1865.  When  the  court-house  at  Morant  Bay  was 
attacked  by  the  blacks,  he  was  struck  down  and 


XAYMACA;   THE   ISLAND   OF   MANY  RIVERS    303 

left  for  dead,  but  managed  later  to  crawl  away 
and  hide  in  an  outhouse  till  the  rioting  was  past. 
But  for  the  prompt  intervention  of  Governor 
Eyre  in  proclaiming  martial  law  and  punishing  the 
chief  offenders,  a  general  insurrection  would  have 
followed.  The  machete,  a  cutlass  of  rude  design, 
was  the  weapon  used  by  the  blacks  in  their  attack, 
for  it  is  always  at  hand,  and  is  their  chief  indus- 
trial implement. 

Feeling  ran  high  both  in  England  and  America 
at  the  time  of  the  Jamaica  outbreak.  John  Stuart 
Mill  notably  led  in  the  protest  against  the  policy 
of  Governor  Eyre,  and  in  this  country  the  aboli- 
tionists were  at  one  in  their  sympathy  for  Gordon, 
whom  they  deemed  a  martyr.  Ruskin,  however, 
defended  Governor  Eyre,  and  it  is  now  conceded 
by  those  who  have  had  opportunity  to  study  the 
question  that  he  only  did  his  duty. 

Mr.  W finds  life  very  dreary  here  because  of 

the  social  privations.  Relations  with  the  blacks 
are  trying ;  one  must  not  treat  them  with  too  great 
indulgence  as  they  interpret  this  to  mean  fear. 
Some  years  ago  Mr.  W was  employed  as  at- 
torney for  a  Quaker  firm  in  Portland,  and  they, 
wishing  to  act  with  great  humanity,  had  toasted 
bread  and  coffee  served  to  their  employees  on  a 
cotton  plantation  every  morning,  and  in  other 
ways  treated  them  with  great  consideration.  As 
a  result  the  negroes,  thinking  their  owners  were 


304  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

trying  to  propitiate  them,  called  their  employers 
"  buckra,"  white  fools.  The  enterprise  failed. 

Apart  from  the  officials  at  the  reformatory, 
Bishop  Nuttall's  family,  and  one  or  two  others,  our 
neighbors  were  black  people.  Their  small  hold- 
ings were  on  every  side.  All  about,  the  wattled 
huts  perched  on  the  steep  hillsides,  or  huddled  close 
together  near  the  roadway.  Even  in  our  distant 
wanderings  in  the  high  woods  we  frequently  came 
across  a  clearing,  with  its  tiny  patch  of  bananas 
and  plantains,  straggling  coffee  bushes,  yams,  and 
aki;  over  all  the  dense  shade  of  a  breadfruit  or  cot- 
ton tree.  Nearly  every  cabin  had  its  tame  parrot, 
one  of  the  green  variety  peculiar  to  the  island, 
and  a  mocking-bird  was  often  a  member  of  the 
family.  Fowls  were  not  abundant,  owing  to  the 
depredations  of  the  mongoose,  and  the  peasantry 
seldom  own  cattle  or  horses.  Occasionally  some 
one  quite  well  to  do  possesses  a  diminutive  don- 
key. Salt  fish  from  the  United  States  is  the  food 
most  prized,  meat  is  a  rare  luxury.  Cocoanut 
oil  is  used  for  cooking.  Cocoanut  cream  made 
from  the  fresh  nuts  still  in  the  milk  is  delicious, 
but  must  be  eaten  just  after  the  nut  has  been 
gathered.  The  various  starchy  vegetables  make 
up  the  rest  of  the  diet  of  the  peasants,  and  upon 
it  they  seem  to  thrive. 

Wages  are  low,  judged  by  our  standard.  Butlers, 
cooks,  and  laundresses  receive  from  ten  shillings  to 


XAYMACA;  THE   ISLAND   OF   MANY  RIVERS    305 

twelve  shillings  per  month,  in  the  country  districts, 
and  find  themselves.  The  peasant  women  were  uni- 
formly courteous ;  as  they  passed  us  on  the  road  or 
the  woodland  paths,  they  courtesied  politely,  and 
greeted  me  with  "  Mawnin',  ole  Massa,"  "  Mawnin', 
my  sweet  lub,"  to  my  young  friend  and  assistant. 
The  men  lacked  graciousness  for  the  most  part ; 
they  are  taciturn,  and  often  sullen.  In  Kingston 
we  met  with  numerous  instances  of  their  rudeness. 
It  is  said  that  they  particularly  dislike  Americans. 
One  day  Mrs.  Scott  and  Mr.  D were  re- 
turning from  Kingston  by  train,  which  was  very 
crowded,  they  being  the  only  white  passengers.  A 
black  man  seated  behind  Mrs.  Scott  leaned  for- 
ward and  placed  his  elbows  on  the  back  of  her 
seat,  much  to  her  discomfort.  She  asked  him 
politely  to  remove  his  arms,  whereupon  a  portly 
brown  man,  immaculately  dressed  in  white  duck, 
of  much  self-importance,  remarked  that  "  if  the 
American  person  is  uncomfortable,  she  had  better 
leave  the  car,  the  gentleman  can  do  as  he  pleases 

with  his  elbows,"  etc.     Mr.  D cut  short  this 

tirade  in  a  peremptory  manner,  the  gentleman 
withdrew  the  offending  elbows,  but  the  muttered 
comments  and  surly  looks  of  the  other  passengers 
showed  us  plainly  that  we  were  unwelcome  in- 
truders. One  of  the  ordinances  of  Jamaica  for- 
bids a  white  man,  under  penalty  of  fine  and 
imprisonment,  to  swear  at  a  black  man.  The 


3o6  THE   STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

frequent  provocation  must  have  led  to  the  pas- 
sage of  the  tantalizing  law.  The  cabmen  are 
insolent,  the  market  women  fly  into  a  passion  if 
a  price  is  questioned.  In  the  shops,  when  the 
negroes  crowd  against  one  rudely,  there  is  no 
redress ;  a  complaint  to  a  black  policeman  is  use- 
less. All  the  minor  officials  everywhere,  in  post 
and  telegraph  stations,  are  of  the  same  race.  You 
must  accept  the  fact  that,  as  in  Hayti,  "  the 
privileges  of  a  white  man  are  not  numerous,"  and 
bear  your  novel  position  with  due  philosophy. 

As  I  wished  to  study  the  faunal  conditions  in 
other  sections,  we  secured  through  friends  the 
lease  of  a  place  called  Boston,  at  Priestman's  River, 
in  the  extreme  northeastern  point  of  the  island. 
The  pen  was  an  estate  of  eleven  hundred  acres. 
Our  lease  gave  us  in  addition  to  the  furnished 
house,  linen  and  silver  included,  the  use  of  two 
horses  and  a  supply  of  milk.  We  did  not  under- 
take farming  operations  ;  they  were  still  to  go  on 
under  the  direction  of  the  head  man,  who  was  to 
keep  us  in  wood.  For  this  estate  the  rental  was 
£10  sterling  a  month. 

Having  completed  our  negotiation  by  letter 
early  in  December,  we  began  shortly  to  plan  for 
our  journey  of  some  sixty  miles,  knowing  that  all 
details  must  be  arranged  well  in  advance.  On 
the  morning  of  December  22  we  started.  The 
drive  to  Annotta  Bay  was  through  a  region  of 


XAYMACA;  THE   ISLAND   OF   MANY  RIVERS    307 

wonderful  beauty,  the  road  firm  and  well  graded, 
sweeping  around  a  succession  of  curves,  giving  us 
constantly  changing  views  of  rugged  mountains, 
and  deep  gorges  through  which  dashed  the  Wag 
Water.  Huge  boulders  lie  in  the  bed  of  the 
stream ;  whirlpools,  eddies,  deep  silent  pools,  the 
endless  variations  of  a  mountain  torrent,  delight 
our  sight  as  our  horses  trot  swiftly  past.  The 
banks  are  densely  hung  with  fantastic  creepers 
or  shaded  with  the  great  plumes  of  the  bamboo. 
At  Castleton  we  stopped  and  walked  about  the 
Government  Botanical  Station,  noted  for  its 
unrivalled  collection  of  palms.  The  garden  is  on 
a  hillside  in  a  narrow  valley ;  along  the  winding 
walks  the  plants  are  arranged  for  display  of  their 
.finest  features,  combined  either  in  picturesque 
groups,  or,  as  in  the  case  of  some  stately  tree, 
growing  quite  apart.  The  tropical  luxuriance 
here  surpasses  anything  we  have  seen. 

As  we  approached  Annotta  Bay  our  road  came 
down  from  the  hills  into  the  flat  lowlands,  —  long 
stretches  of  meadow  over  which  many  cattle  were 
feeding.  The  Wag  Water  here  spreads  out  into 
a  broad,  shallow  stream.  As  we  neared  the  sea 
we  could  hear  the  thundering  of  the  surf,  and 
soon  came  in  sight  of  the  great  waves  rolling  in 
and  breaking  on  the  roadway.  For  a  short  dis- 
tance we  seemed  below  sea-level.  Following 
along  the  coast  we  passed  a  succession  of  cocoa- 


3o8  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

nut  groves,  pastures,  banana  plantations,  the 
hills  back  at  a  considerable  distance,  showing 
their  far-away  tops  in  a  mist  of  rain.  We  crossed 
several  rivers  on  the  new  iron  bridges  just  being 
completed  by  the  enterprise  of  an  American  rail- 
road company.  Buff  Bay  was  reached  in  the  late 

afternoon.    We  had  been  directed  to  Miss  D 's 

lodging-house,  which  proved  a  shabby,  one-storied 
cottage,  approached  by  a  flight  of  steep  steps. 
Entering  an  untidy  sitting  room,  we  asked  to  see 
the  bedrooms  —  they  were  not  made  up  yet. 
Insisting  that  we  must  look  at  the  rooms  at 
once,  we  found  them  filled  with  people,  dogs, 
and  dirt,  the  air  pervaded  with  the  odor  of  castor- 
oil,  the  favorite  hair  pomade.  At  another  tavern 
one  clean  room  was  discovered.  Two  tables,  a 
sofa,  and  buffet  made  up  the  furniture.  We 
decided  to  camp  for  the  night  at  this  place,  as  it 
was  useless  to  look  farther.  Just  as  we  had  re- 
signed ourselves  to  the  inevitable,  a  card  was  sent 
in,  and  we  were  warmly  greeted  by  Mr.  Espeut, 
one  of  the  large  landowners  of  the  neighborhood, 
whom  I  had  met  in  Kingston.  Mr.  Espeut  recog- 
nized me  in  passing,  and  realized  our  plight.  Mrs. 
Espeut  shortly  joined  him,  and  they  urged  us  to 
spend  the  night  at  Spring  Garden,  their  country 
place.  The  cordial  invitation  was  finally  accepted 

for  the  elder  lady  of  the  party,  Mrs.  J .     After 

their  departure  we  made  ourselves   comfortable 


XAYMACA;   THE   ISLAND   OF   MANY  RIVERS     309 

with  our  rugs,  and  fared  well  on  a  cup  of  coffee, 
eggs,  biscuit,  and  jam.  In  the  early  morning  we 
drove  on  for  breakfast  at  Spring  Garden.  It  is 
a  large  estate,  formerly  a  sugar  plantation,  the 
land  now  leased  to  the  Boston  Fruit  Company 
for  the  culture  of  bananas.  We  spent  a  couple 
of  hours  with  our  kind  host  and  hostess  on  the 
terrace,  overlooking  the  sea,  and  then  continued 
our  journey. 

Twice  in  the  last  four  hundred  years  vast  wealth 
has  been  concentrated  in  Jamaica,  and  twice  this 
wealth  has  been  dissipated.  Both  stories  are  in- 
teresting. When  the  "  gentlemen  of  fortune " 
of  all  nationalities  consorted  in  companies  to- 
gether and  plied  their  vocation,  the  Spanish  Main 
was  the  El  Dorado  they  sought,  and  ultimately 
the  city  of  Port  Royal  became  the  rendezvous  of 
many  of  them  —  the  haven  of  rest  of  the  bucca- 
neers. Here  they  lived  in  the  most  magnificent 
luxury,  and  here  their  orgies  became  so  notorious 
that  Port  Royal  was  a  synonym  for  the  most  wan- 
ton waste  and  wickedness  of  all  kinds. 

"  On  the  yth  of  June,  1692,  the  great  earthquake  occurred 
which  almost  destroyed  the  opulent  city.  Whole  streets  with 
their  inhabitants  were  swallowed  up  by  the  opening  of  the 
earth,  which,  as  it  closed  again,  squeezed  the  people  to  death. 
Of  the  three  thousand  houses,  but  about  two  hundred,  with 
Fort  Charles,  remained.  The  whole  island  felt  the  shock. 
Chains  of  hills  were  riven  asunder ;  new  channels  formed  for 
the  rivers ;  mountains  dissolved  with  a  mighty  crash,  burying 


3 io  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

alive  the  people  of  the  adjacent  valleys ;  whole  settlements 
sunk  into  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  plantations  were  removed 
en  masse. 

"  The  sentence  of  desolation  was  thus,  however,  but  partially 
fulfilled ;  a  noxious  miasma,  generated  by  the  shoals  of  putre- 
fying bodies  that  floated  about  in  the  harbor  of  Port  Royal,  or 
lay  in  heaps  in  the  suburbs,  slew  thousands  of  the  survivors." 

Again,  with  the  development  of  the  sugar- 
cane industry,  the  island  blossomed  into  fabulous 
prosperity.  At  the  time  of  the  abolition  of  the 
slave-trade,  1807,  the  proprietors  were  gleaning  a 
harvest  and  amassing  annual  wealth  that,  if  put 
in  figures,  would  hardly  seem  credible.  A  single 
bi-product  of  the  cane,  rum,  was  alone  worth 
many  times  the  entire  value  of  the  present  annual 
sugar  crop. 

With  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves,  and  their 
purchase  by  the  English  Government,  in  1833, 
began  the  decline  of  the  second  period  in  the 
fortunes  of  the  island.  About  the  same  time  one 
of  the  principal  enemies  of  the  sugar  estates,  the 
brown  rat,  was  brought  by  ships  from  foreign 
ports.  The  depredations  of  this  rat  finally  became 
so  marked  that  on  most  estates  it  was  conceded 
that  a  loss  of  about  thirty  per  cent  of  the  entire 
crop  accrued  from  this  source  alone.  Various 
remedies  were  sought  to  overcome  the  devasta- 
tions so  wrought,  and  sundry  panaceas  were  tried 
to  remedy  the  evil. 


XAYMACA;   THE   ISLAND   OF   MANY  RIVERS     311 

For  two  hundred  years  numerous  suggestions 
have  been  made  to  mitigate  the  havoc  caused  by 
rats  upon  the  cane  crops  of  Jamaica,  and  rat- 
catching  has  always  figured  as  an  important  item 
of  expense  on  all  sugar  estates.  The  brown  and 
black  rats  of  Europe  were,  no  doubt,  introduced 
by  ships,  for  they  are  common  and  occur  gener- 
ally. However,  the  rat  which  Gosse  has  described 
under  the  name  of  Mus  saccharivorus  is  appar- 
ently a  different  species,  and  is  distinguished  by 
its  lighter  under  parts  and  larger  size,  specimens 
often  measuring  from  the  tip  of  the  nose  to  the 
tip  of  the  tail  as  much  as  twenty  inches.  Ferrets 
were  introduced,  but  proved  inadequate;  and  it 
is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  cats  and  dogs  could 
not  cope  with  the  enemy. 

At  one  time  Sir  Charles  Price,  an  Englishman 
connected  with  the  government  of  the  island,  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  bringing  from  South  America 
some  species  of  weasel  which  he  thought  might 
prove  efficacious,  but  his  efforts  were  in  vain.  In 
1762  it  is  said  that  Thomas  Raffles  introduced 
from  the  island  of  Cuba  the  native  ants.  These 
proved  of  some  benefit,  and  are  regarded  by  the 
sugar-planter  of  to-day  as  valuable  allies.  In 
1844  Mr.  Anthony  Davis  brought  from  South 
America  a  gigantic  toad  which  had  proved  effi- 
cacious in  the  islands  of  Martinique  and  Barba- 
does  in  destroying  young  rats.  They  had  been 


3i2  THE   STORY   OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

introduced  there  from  Cayenne,  where  they  abound 
in  great  numbers ;  but  neither  this  toad  nor  the 
ant  in  question  achieved  the  results  that  had  been 
expected.  As  late  as  the  year  1872  the  rat  pest 
continued  as  great  a  menace  as  ever. 

To  give  an  idea  of  the  estimation  in  which  the 
planters  held  the  destructive  powers  of  the  sugar- 
cane rat,  it  may  be  stated  that  on  large  estates  an 
annual  expenditure  of  no  less  a  sum  than  two 
hundred  pounds  sterling  was  set  aside  for  rat- 
catching,  poisons,  and  destruction  of  the  vermin 
in  various  ways.  It  is  not  possible  to  estimate 
altogether  the  total  annual  loss  caused  by  these 
vermin;  but  the  consensus  of  opinion  of  the 
sugar  growers  seemed  to  be  that  it  varied  from 
twenty  to  thirty  per  cent  of  the  entire  crop. 

As  early  as  1816  Lunan  suggested  the  capabili- 
ties of  the  mongoose  in  these  words :  — 

"  There  is  in  India  an  animal  called  mungoose,  which  bears 
a  natural  antipathy  to  rats.  If  this  animal  was  introduced  here 
it  might  extirpate  the  whole  race  of  these  noxious  vermin." 

It  remained  for  the  gentleman  with  whom  we 
were  breakfasting  to  introduce  a  relentless  enemy 
of  the  rat.  William  Bancroft  Espeut,  Esq.,  was 
a  member  of  the  Governor's  Council.  I  was  es- 
pecially glad  to  meet  him,  and  to  learn  from 
his  own  lips  how  he  brought  the  first  of  these 
animals  to  the  island.  Having  made  arrange- 


XAYMACA;   THE   ISLAND   OF   MANY  RIVERS     313 

ments  to  have  them  captured  in  their  native  home, 
India,  and  brought  to  this  far-distant  island,  his 
efforts  were  successful  in  landing  on  his  estate, 
in  1872,  nine  mongoose.  He  told  me  that  four 
of  these  were  males  and  five  females.  These 
he  liberated  at  several  different  points,  and  the 
result  was  awaited  with  interest.  The  mongoose, 
an  inveterate  hunter  of  all  kinds  of  eggs,  is 
efficacious  in  India  in  ridding  the  country  to  a 
large  extent  of  snakes ;  and  as  it  is  also  equally 
sagacious  in  finding  the  young  of  most  kinds  of 
animals,  its  destructive  powers  can  readily  be  im- 
agined. The  story  of  what  the  wily  mongoose 
accomplished  in  the  island  of  Jamaica  in  the 
short  space  of  twenty  years  is  well  known  to 
many,  but  I  will  briefly  summarize  it.  From  the 
nine  animals  introduced  by  Mr.  Espeut  there 
soon  developed  a  numerous  progeny.  The  bal- 
ance of  nature  in  any  given  locality  is  so  well- 
adjusted  that  extreme  preponderance  of  any  given 
form  of  life  seems  to  be  held  well  in  check  by 
natural  enemies  in  the  struggle  for  existence; 
with  the  entrance  into  a  new  environment  of  any 
given  organism,  the  conditions  are  probably  often 
more  favorable  for  its  increase  than  in  the  region 
from  which  it  has  been  taken,  especially  if  this  be 
a  remote  one,  for  obviously  there  are  no  natural 
enemies,  it  not  being  a  concomitant  part  of  the 
machinery  of  nature  at  that  point.  The  mon- 


3i4  THE   STORY  OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

goose  did  not  offer  an  exception  to  this  gener- 
alization. 

Shortly  before  my  visit  to  Jamaica  these  animals 
had  increased  to  such  prodigious  numbers  and 
their  devastations  had  become  so  great  that  a 
Royal  Commission  was  appointed  to  look  into  the 
matter.  It  will  be  sufficient  for  the  purpose  I 
have  in  view  to  say  that  the  mongoose  practically 
effected  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  brought, 
namely,  the  destruction  of  the  sugar-cane  rat. 
But  I  have  stated  enough  of  the  habits  of  this 
animal  to  make  plain  that  with  its  increase  in 
abundance  other  food  supplies  were  necessary  to 
furnish  subsistence  for  the  growing  number.  The 
eggs  of  ground-breeding  birds,  of  lizards,  snakes, 
as  well  as  the  young  of  all  these  animals,  were 
preyed  upon  with  some  of  the  following  results : 
ground-building  birds,  such  as  the  quail  and  the 
guinea-fowl,  exotic  species,  which  had  become 
feral  in  the  island,  as  well  as  small  insectivorous 
birds,  many  of  the  native  ground-building  doves 
and  the  like,  were  shortly  either  wholly  extermi- 
nated or  were  much  reduced.  At  the  time  of  my 
visit  to  the  island  the  quail  had  become  extinct, 
the  guinea-fowl  was  practically  exterminated,  all 
the  snakes  of  the  island  had  been  annihilated,  and 
as  none  of  these  were  poisonous,  so  large  an  ele- 
ment of  animal  life  taken  from  the  whole  began 
to  show  widely  ramifying  effects.  Many  species 


XAYMACA;   THE   ISLAND   OF   MANY  RIVERS     $15 

of  lizards  had  become  very  rare,  and  a  number  of 
them  were  wholly  extirpated.  Now  all  of  these 
lizards  were  insect-feeding  animals,  and  did  their 
part  to  hold  in  check  the  throngs  of  insects  which 
swarm  in  the  tropics.  The  raising  of  all  poultry 
was  rendered  well-nigh  impossible,  and  even  the 
young  of  animals  like  the  pig  and  sheep  suffered 
severely  from  the  ravages  of  the  mongoose. 

One  of  the  industries  of  the  island  of  Jamaica 
was  the  raising  of  beef  cattle,  and  the  so-called 
pens  on  the  islands,  large  cattle  estates,  had 
become  famous  in  trade  and  story.  Here  were 
bred  some  of  the  finest  cattle  for  supplying  the 
markets  of  the  neighboring  islands,  both  for 
draught  and  market  purposes.  With  the  serious 
decline  in  bird  and  reptile  life,  resulting  from  the 
source  I  have  indicated,  there  came  a  marked 
increase  among  certain  insects  that  had  always 
been  regarded  as  great  pests  by  the  islanders. 
Chief  among  these  was  the  grass-tick.  This  is  a 
minute  tick  living  in  the  grass  fields;  and  with 
the  destruction  of  its  natural  enemies,  birds,  lizards, 
and  snakes,  it  multiplied  and  began  to  assume 
proportions  that  menaced  the  entire  industry  of 
cattle  and  sheep  raising.  More  recently  the  de- 
struction of  this  industry  has  been  practically 
accomplished;  for  I  have  learned  from  those  who 
passed  last  winter  in  the  island  that  the  raising 
of  cattle  and  sheep  had  been  abandoned  at  most 


3i6  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

points  wholly  on  account  of  the  grass-tick.  Even 
during  the  several  months  we  spent  on  an  estate, 
there  were  large  grass  fields,  as  attractive  to  the 
eye  and  with  as  luxuriant  a  growth  as  one  could 
hope  to  see,  which  were  not  only  shunned  by  the 
cattle,  but  into  which  they  refused  to  be  driven. 
Horses,  as  well  as  cattle  and  sheep,  were  the 
sufferers;  so  that  it  needs  no  little  imagination 
on  the  part  of  the  reader  to  conceive  the  endless 
consequences  ensuing  on  the  introduction  of  the 
mongoose. 

It  is  only  necessary  to  look  at  similar  experi- 
ments made  in  various  parts  of  the  world  to  be 
aware  of  the  inevitable  evil  results  that  follow. 
The  naturalization  of  the  rabbit  in  Australia  and 
of  the  English  sparrow  in  America  are  well 
known ;  and  what  they  have  accomplished  in 
both  regions  has  been  summarized  and  set  forth 
in  detail  by  many  writers.  But  even  at  their 
worst,  no  comparison  can  be  made  between  them 
and  the  mongoose.  It  is  probable  that  because 
this  animal  was  brought  into  a  small  insular  area 
that  it  achieved  necessarily  more  deep-reaching 
effects  than  if  it  had  been  taken  into  the  larger 
area  of  the  mainland ;  for  it  is  accepted  that 
islands  furnish  protection  to  certain  forms  of  life 
which  have  ceased  to  exist  on  the  adjacent  main- 
land, and  conversely  the  opposite  is  true. 

At  the  Spanish  River  our  carriage  was  taken 


XAYiMACA;  THE   ISLAND   OF   MANY   RIVERS     317 

in  charge  by  eight  stalwart  black  men,  who, 
divested  of  clothing,  swam  across  the  stream  sup- 
porting and  floating  the  buggy  by  their  united 
efforts.  The  horses  swam  under  the  guidance  of 
other  men,  while  we  crossed  on  a  narrow  plank. 
The  Spanish  River,  in  native  parlance,  was  "  well 
down,"  we  should  say,  up,  rather ;  for  swollen  with 
recent  rains  it  came  in  a  torrent  from  the  high 
mountains  towering  over  our  heads.  At  the 
Swift  and  Rio  Grande  rivers  we  had  to  seek 
similar  aid,  and  most  courteously  was  it  given 
by  the  engineers  in  charge.  Port  Antonio,  the 
metropolis  of  the  north  shore,  with  its  fine  har- 
bor, we  reached  for  a  late  luncheon.  At  that 
time  only  the  usual  native  lodging-house  offered 
accommodations,  but  now  an  admirable  inn  under 
the  management  of  the  American  Fruit  Company 
affords  every  comfort  to  the  tourist.  Delightfully 
situated  on  the  high  bluff  overlooking  the  sea, 
the  hills  rising  sharply  in  the  background,  topped 
by  the  glorious  Blue  Mountain  peak,  a  more 
beautiful  site  for  a  winter  resort  is  nowhere  to  be 
found. 

We  made  good  speed  from  Port  Antonio  to 
"  Boston,"  over  a  road  gaining  in  beauty  as  it 
wound  in  and  out  along  the  curving  shore,  close 
to  the  sea;  now  on  the  sands,  again  climbing  a 
steep  incline,  protected  by  a  solid  stone  rampart 
from  a  frowning  precipice,  or  crossing  a  wide 


3i8  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

savannah,  in  which  the  cattle  browsed  in  grass 
up  to  their  knees.  As  darkness  fell  we  reached 
our  destination.  Satan,  a  huge  mastiff,  came  out 

to  meet  us,  accompanying  Mr.  H ,  the  factor 

of  the  property,  whom  the  owner,  Mr.  J ,  had 

left  to  see  us  properly  installed.  A  host  of  dusky 
retainers  lurked  in  the  background. 

The  next  morning  we  looked  down  on  the  deep 
blue  Caribbean,  three  hundred  feet  below.  A 
broad,  undulating  pasture  lay  in  front,  fringed  on 
the  shore  by  a  grove  of  cocoanut  trees.  On  the 
slope  of  the  hill  were  groups  of  pimento,  mango, 
and  orange  trees,  with  a  few  scattered  palms. 
The  house,  a  bungalow,  was  built  close  against 
the  hill  which  rose  abruptly  behind  it.  A  low 
stone  wall  formed  a  garden-enclosure,  all  over- 
grown with  lycopodium,  and  surmounted  by  a 
chevaux-de-frise  of  the  ping-wing,  a  spiked-leaved 
plant  resembling  the  pineapple.  Within,  the 
crotons,  poinsettias,  and  hibiscus  furnished  a 
wealth  of  color.  The  veranda  was  embowered  in 
the  fragrant  bougainvillea ;  ferns  .of  bewildering 
variety  clung  to  every  rock  and  cranny.  When 
we  learned  there  were  five  hundred  species  of  the 
latter  on  the  island  we  gave  up  seeking  names 
for  each  kind.  The  rooms  were  large  and  well 
furnished.  A  grand  piano  and  an  organ  lent 
dignity  to  the  drawing-room,  silver  and  china 
were  unexceptionable ;  but  all  the  luxury  was 


XAYMACA;  THE   ISLAND   OF   MANY   RIVERS     319 

offset  by  the  dismal  black  hole  called  the  kitchen, 
with  its  rough  stone  floor  and  forlorn  little 
American  cooking  stove,  one,  however,  in  which 
it  was  at  least  possible  to  build  a  fire.  As  we  had 
by  this  time  become  accustomed  to  Jamaican 
ways  of  living,  it  was  easier  to  surmount  obstacles, 
and  by  dint  of  management  our  establishment 
was  soon  in  good  working  order. 

Every  morning  we  were  awakened  by  the 
plaintive  call-notes  of  the  various  wild  pigeons 
and  doves  that  abounded.  In  the  vicinity  of  the 
house  the  white-headed  pigeon,  the  Zenaida  or 
pea-dove,  the  white-winged  dove,  and  the  tiny 
ground-dove  predominated.  But  we  only  had  to 
go  a  short  distance  to  encounter  others.  The 
ring-tailed  pigeon,  the  game-bird  par  excellence 
of  Jamaica,  and  ranked  among  the  chief  table 
delicacies  of  the  island,  was  common  in  the  deep 
forest.  It  seemed  a  bird  of  the  high  trees,  as  was 
the  white-crowned  pigeon,  while  the  other  kinds 
referred  to  frequent  either  open  grounds  or  thick- 
ets. The  ring-tailed  pigeon  exceeds  in  size  the 
largest  of  our  domesticated  birds,  and  the  white- 
crowned  pigeon  is  in  this  respect  about  like  a  car- 
rier. The  white-bellied  pigeon  was  to  be  found  in 
the  undergrowth  of  the  forests,  as  were  three  quail- 
doves,  the  ruddy  or  mountain,  the  blue  dove,  or 
"mountain-witch,"  and  the  blue-headed  quail-dove. 
The  first  of  this  trio  was  abundant,  the  others  less 


320  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

common,  and  all  are  singularly  beautiful  with  iri- 
descent color. 

On  the  stretches  of  grass  land,  anis  followed 
the  cows  and  sheep,  and  in  the  trees  just  about 
the  house  mocking-birds,  honey-creepers,  tanagers 
of  several  kinds,  cotton-tree  sparrows,  and  white- 
winged  orioles  were  always  flitting  about. 

A  large  swift,  locally  known  as  the  "ringed 
gowrie,"  was  often  present  in  great  numbers  late  in 
the  afternoon.  They  are  fully  three  times  the  size 
of  our  chimney-swift,  gray  in  color,  relieved  by 
a  pure  white  collar  about  the  neck.  Generally 
they  flew  high  in  the  air,  but  now  and  then  I  saw 
them  skimming  low  over  the  meadows.  Their 
flight  is  of  great  velocity,  and  the  rapid  evolutions 
characteristic  of  swifts  are  emphasized.  In  con- 
trast is  the  diminutive  palm-swift,  much  smaller, 
but  in  color  like  a  chimney-swift,  which  I  never 
saw  far  from  its  favorite  cocoanut  trees.  The 
"  gowrie "  was  never  seen  at  rest,  but  the  palm- 
swifts  often  alighted.  Barn-owls  flew  like  silent 
white  ghosts  low  over  the  meadows  in  the  moon- 
light, or  perched  in  a  tree  ne^r  the  house,  crying 
like  some  lost  soul.  Nor  have  I  named  a  tithe  of 
the  birds  at  "  Boston  " ;  for  the  ducks  and  grebes 
of  the  ponds  in  the  pasture,  for  the  denizens  of 
the  garden,  and  the  songsters  of  the  woodland  a 
separate  book  is  needed.  A  resume  of  the  birds 
may  be  found  cited  in  the  bibliography. 


XAYMACA;  THE   ISLAND   OF   MANY   RIVERS     321 

Having  established  relations  with  Mr.  M , 

the  enterprising  agent  in  Port  Antonio  of  the 
American  Fruit  Company,  we  were  able  to  get 
needed  stores,  —  flour  of  good  quality,  butter,  and 
bacon  from  the  United  States.  Poultry,  eggs, 
vegetables,  fruit,  coffee,  the  latter  home  cured, 
were  supplied  by  higglers  at  the  door. 

There  is  a  monotony  about  tropical  fare  in  a 
country  district.  Ice  is  wanting,  butter  and  cream 
lack  a  proper  consistency,  and  though  the  climate 
suggests  cooling  beverages,  sherbets  and  other 
frozen  compounds,  one  must  adjust  one's  palate  to 
a  lukewarm  temperature.  Meat  must  be  eaten 
before  it  is  properly  hung,  and  hence  lacks  savor ; 
the  same  is  true  of  poultry.  Of  our  accustomed 
vegetables,  we  had  potatoes  and  tomatoes ;  for  the 
rest  we  found  the  chou-chou,  which  grew  like  the 
cocoa  directly  from  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  an  admi- 
rable substitute  for  squash.  The  aki,  suggestive 
of  omelet,  did  not  tempt  us,  one  portion  was  said 
to  be  poisonous.  Fruits  there  were  in  endless 
variety,  —  sweet-sop,  sour-sop,  star-apple,  custard 
apple,  sapodilla,  avocado  pear,  mammee-sapota, 
mango,  in  addition  to  the  familiar  pineapple, 
orange,  lime,  shaddock,  and  cocoanut.  The 
Number  Eleven  Mango  is  a  fruit  to  be  remem- 
bered, ranking,  I  fancy,  with  the  famous  durian 
of  Borneo.  Of  the  other  unfamiliar  fruits  I  can 
say  little  in  praise ;  all  save  the  avocado  pear  are 


322  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

insipid,  sweet,  and  sticky.  This  so-called  pear  is 
in  reality  a  vegetable,  and  is  excellent  as  a  salad. 

Numerous  were  the  vassals  and  retainers  of  the 
pen  that  claimed  service  with  us.  We  scarcely 
knew  them  all  by  name;  but  as  their  wages 
amounted  to  no  more  than  that  of  one  good 
servant  at  home,  and  they  found  themselves,  we 
could  not  complain.  In  the  early  morning,  when 
my  work  began,  Diana,  the  housemaid,  could 
always  be  seen  shinning  up  a  tree  to  gather  wild 
oranges  for  cleaning  the  floors.  This  she  did 
industriously,  applying  water  strongly  saturated 
with  the  acid  juice  of  the  sour  orange,  as  a 
protection  against  insect  pests.  The  mahogany 
floors  shone  under  her  vigorous  polishing,  the 
husk  of  a  cocoanut  making  an  excellent  brush  for 
the  application  of  the  wax. 

I  have  mentioned  that  one  of  our  perquisites  at 
"  Boston  "  was  a  supply  of  fresh  milk ;  the  amount 
was  not  stipulated  in  the  lease,  but  as  there  was 
a  goodly  herd  of  cattle,  we  counted  on  once  more 
having  cow's  milk  and  cream  in  abundance,  as  a 
welcome  change  from  the  tinned  variety.  The 
morning  after  our  arrival  we  were  awakened  at 
dawn  by  wild  shoutings  and  hallooing,  the  bark- 
ing of  dogs,  and  the  noise  of  a  rush  of  hoofed 
animals  across  the  pasture  lands.  Jumping  up, 
and  looking  out  through  the  jalousies,  I  first 
thought  a  round-up  was  underway,  the  old  famil- 


XAYMACA;  THE   ISLAND   OF   MANY   RIVERS     323 

iar  Arizona  scene  was  so  vividly  recalled.  But  I 
soon  discovered  that  a  cow  and  calf  were  being 
cut  out  of  the  herd,  and  driven  at  a  gallop  into 
a  small  enclosure  at  the  foot  of  the  hill.  The 
cow,  kicking  and  plunging,  was  tied  by  the  horns 
to  a  fence-post,  a  negro  standing  on  one  side  of 
the  animal  with  upraised  fence-rail,  ready  to  give 
her  a  severe  blow  should  she  kick.  Her  calf  was 
then  allowed  to  go  to  her,  but  had  no  sooner 
begun  to  suck,  than  the  poor  little  creature  was 
pulled  away  by  the  tail,  and  a  third  man,  at  arm's 
length,  a  tin  cup  in  hand,  accomplished  the  milk- 
ing. All  through  the  process  a  hideous  uproar 
prevailed,  in  which  beasts,  boys,  and  men  joiaed. 
It  was  a  laughable  and,  at  the  same  time,  a  pitiful 
sight.  Each  cow  yielding  under  these  barbarous 
methods  about  a  half  pint,  only  three  pints  of 
milk  was  our  daily  portion.  An  elaborate  cream 
separator  and  modern  churn  were  in  the  dairy, 
and  we  had  been  assured  that  fresh  butter  could 
be  furnished  us  in  abundance.  A  few  days  later 
Mrs.  Scott  saw  one  of  the  maids  squatting  on  her 
heels  in  the  courtyard,  lazily  swinging  back  and 
forth  in  her  hands  a  quart  beer  bottle  containing 
a  white  liquid.  "  What  are  you  doing,  Diana  ?  " 
"  Meka  butta  cum,  mum."  And  this  was  the 
source  to  which  we  must  look  for  the  coveted 
supply  of  fresh  butter.  A  tablespoonful  was  the 
sole  result  of  her  lazy  effort. 


324  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

These  operabouffe  methods  prevailed  in  all  the 
farm  and  household  operations.  If  wood  was 
needed,  a  boy  slowly  departed  to  the  forest,  and 
returned  dragging  a  branch  behind  him,  and 
then,  seated  on  his  heels,  hacked  away  with  his 
machete,  consuming  two  or  three  hours  in  provid- 
ing fuel  enough  for  the  preparation  of  one  meal. 
The  washing  went  away  each  week  on  the  head 
of  the  laundress,  who  carried  the  clothes  to  the 
nearest  stream,  and  there  pounded  and  hatchelled 
them  on  the  flat  rocks,  standing  often  knee-deep 
in  the  water.  It  was  not  infrequent  in  crossing  a 
river  to  see  a  line  of  these  ebony  creatures,  clad 
in  .scant  raiment,  chattering  and  laughing  over 
their  work.  How  the  ironing  was  accomplished 
remains  a  mystery.  It  was  certainly  of  most  in- 
different quality. 

Our  table,  however  lacking  in  variety,  was  never 
in  want  of  charming  decorations.  Sullivan,  our 
butler,  was  a  genius  in  producing  artistic  effects 
with  maiden-hair,  the  fragrant  sprays  of  stephano- 
tis,  the  orange,  hibiscus,  and  plumbago  blossoms, 
or  the  many  other  flowers  of  rare  beauty  that  grew 
just  outside  the  door. 

My  work  took  up  the  greater  part  of  each  day ; 
the  mornings  being  largely  devoted  to  collecting 
expeditions.  During  the  preparation  of  material, 
when  my  hands  only  were  busy,  Mrs.  Scott 
read  aloud  everything  of  interest  we  could  find 


XAYMACA;   THE   ISLAND  OF   MANY   RIVERS     325 

relating  to  the  West  Indies  and  to  Jamaican 
history  in  particular.  Kingsley's  "  At  Last " 
marvellously  pictures  the  rare  beauty  and  delight 
of  a  tropical  winter,  and  though  written  of  Trini- 
dad, is  alike  descriptive  of  the  other  islands. 
"  Tom  Cringle's  Log  "  gave  us  glimpses  of  the 
reckless,  daredevil  spirit  that  so  long  prevailed 
in  West  India  waters.  Gardiner's  "  History  of 
Jamaica "  sets  forth  in  sober  style  the  romantic 
story  of  the  island,  the  scene  of  desperate  deeds, 
the  rendezvous  of  the  pirate  and  the  buccaneer; 
at  one  time  the  richest  spot  on  the  face  of  the 
earth,  and  the  wickedest.  Froude's  later  day 
journeying,  with  his  comments  and  forecasts,  was 
also  of  absorbing  interest. 

The  event  of  the  day  was  the  arrival  of  King, 
a  native  hunter.  While  I  was  able,  with  the  aid 
of  my  assistant,  to  get  representatives  of  the  birds 
of  the  neighborhood,  the  fastnesses  of  the  deep 
woods  and  high  mountains  were  left  largely  to 
the  negro  sportsmen  familiar  with  them.  William 
King,  a  giant  black,  a  very  savage  in  looks  and 
breeding,  was  not  only  picturesque  as  a  person,  but 
was  preeminent  among  the  blacks  as  a  hunter. 
He  it  was  who  generally  appeared  about  dark, 
scarcely  less  interesting  than  the  birds  in  his 
game-bag.  He  seemed  always  a  wild  creature 
fresh  from  the  forest  glade,  who  deigned  to  lend 
his  aid  in  disclosing  the  mysteries  of  wood  and 


326  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

hill.  His  work  was  carried  on  in  the  most 
remote  places,  where  he  procured  many  gorgeous 
and  wonderful  birds.  Besides  the  several  kinds 
of  parrots,  the  commoner  pigeons  and  hawks, 
King  brought  "  the  old  man  bird,"  a  very  giant 
of  cuckoos,  the  well-named  "  mountain-witch," 
most  beautiful  and  rare  of  quail-doves,  and  the 
little  solitaire,  whose  voice  rivals  in  quality  that 
of  the  most  famous  song-birds.  King  hunted, 
too,  for  the  mysterious  "blue  mountain-duck," 
"  the  diabolitin,"  going  to  the  summit  of  the 
towering  peak  in  his  search.  His  errand  proved 
futile.  Alas!  for  this  petrel.  Breeding  in  bur- 
rows it  was  an  easy  victim  for  the  rapacious 
mongoose.  A  bird  peculiar  to  Jamaica,  and 
formerly  abundant,  it  is  now,  so  far  as  known, 
extinct. 

The  patois  of  the  servants  I  found  utterly  un- 
intelligible. As  a  housewife  Mrs.  Scott  had  to 
familiarize  herself  with  the  cockney  English,  the 
abbreviated  sentences,  the  confusion  of  pronouns, 
and  the  Spanish  idioms.  Sullivan,  entering,  would 
announce,  "Elli  com,  mum,"  which  meant  Alec  (the 
house-boy)  had  come,  or  "  boil  water,  mum,"  "  mek 
bread,  mum."  I  have  boiled  the  water,  I  have 
made  the  bread.  If  anything  is  broken  it  is  "  all 
mush  up."  "  Not  too  bad,"  "  not  too  far "  are 
answers  to  a  question  as  to  an  injury  or  a  dis- 
tance. 


XAYMACA;  THE   ISLAND   OF   MANY   RIVERS     327 

"  Nice  fraish  feesh  jus  gwine  pas,  sixpence 
a  pound,  sixpence  a  pound,"  a  huckster's  call, 
meant  that  nice  fresh  fish  was  offered.  In  this 
way  all  the  various  wares  were  cried. 

"  Cum  buy-a-me-a  feesh-a.     Mek-a  go  way. 

Mek-a  go  way.     Mek-a  go  way. 
Cum  buy-a-me-a  feesh-a.     Mek-a  go  way. 
Me  no  cum  for  to  lean  upon  de  counta. 

"  O  de  weda,  O  de  heata,  O  de  gingue, 

O  de  gingue,  O  de  gingue, 
O  de  weda,  O  de  heata,  O  de  gingue. 
Me  no  cum  for  to  lean  upon  de  counta." 

This  is  a  typical  native  jingle,  drawled  out  in 
a  sing-song  monotone  of  minor  cadence.  The 
blacks  of  Jamaica  present  a  contrast  to  their  more 
musical  brothers  of  America.  Melody  on  the 
whole  is  not  characteristic  of  the  Jamaica  ne- 
gro. It  is  rarely  heard.  Once,  however,  a  troop 
of  men  who  were  bringing  a  huge,  half-finished 
canoe  down  from  the  high  hills  attracted  my 
attention.  Dragging  the  great  weight  on  primi- 
tive rollers  through  the  rough  country,  fifty  or 
sixty  stalwart  fellows  hauled  on  a  rope,  timing 
their  efforts  to  a  fine  chorus  in  minor  key. 

An  amusing  incident  serves  to  illustrate  the 
customs  of  the  peasantry.  West,  the  head  man, 
some  thirty-five  years  old,  came  to  me  and  asked 
if  he  could  take  two  or  three  days  as  a  holiday, 


328  THE   STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

for  his  wedding.  I  looked  surprised,  as  I  knew 
West  had  a  cabin  full  of  children,  from  the  veri- 
est "  pick'ny  "  to  a  well-grown  lad  of  fifteen,  and  his 
wife  seemed  a  particularly  excellent  woman.  Was 
West  about  to  abandon  his  family  ?  Had  a  divorce 
been  obtained?  These  speculations  came  to  my 
mind.  However,  I  gave  the  required  permission, 
and  then  made  cautious  inquiry  —  learned  that 
West,  who  had  acquired  some  little  property,  felt 
that  he  could  at  last  afford  a  wedding,  and  that  he 
proposed  to  celebrate  with  proper  ceremony  his 
marriage  to  the  woman  who  had  been  so  long  his 
faithful  companion,  the  mother  of  his  children. 
After  the  church  service,  the  neighbors  from  far 
and  near  assembled  at  West's  house.  The  merry- 
making continued  for  several  days,  and  the  good 
fortune  of  the  happy  pair  was  a  source  of  rejoic- 
ing for  the  whole  country-side.  This  practice 
very  generally  obtains.  A  man  has  no  wedding 
till  he  can  afford  it. 

At  "  Boston  "  we  were  in  the  black  belt.  Two 
bachelors  were  our  only  white  neighbors.  Our 
quiet  was  broken  in  upon  most  pleasantly  by  the 
visits  of  the  officers  of  the  historic  Kearsarge 
and  the  Enterprise,  while  the  ships  were  in 
harbor  at  Port  Antonio.  Professor  Rothrock  also 
stopped  over  with  us  on  one  of  his  botanical  ex- 
peditions ;  he  was  that  winter  studying  especially 
the  forests  of  Jamaica. 


XAYMACA;  THE   ISLAND   OF   MANY  RIVERS    329 

Early  in  March  we  drove  to  Kingston,  around 
the  northeast  end  of  the  island,  under  the  shadow 
of  the  John  Crow  mountains,  following  the  pic- 
turesque undulations  of  the  coast.  Passing 
through  the  level  lands  of  St.  Thomas,  we  saw 
the  many  ruins  of  the  former  sugar  estates,  the 
decayed  walls  of  mansions,  now  entirely  overgrown 
with  creepers,  and  the  tumbled  heaps  of  the 
once  busy  mills.  All  the  territory  is  at  present 
turned  to  banana  culture,  and  is  leased  or  owned 
by  the  Boston  Fruit  Company.  Leaving  the 
coast  at  Hectors  River  we  drove  inland,  through 
constantly  varying  scenery,  now  along  the  bank 
of  a  rushing  river,  again  crossing  a  wide  savannah. 
At  Bath,  hidden  away  among  the  hills,  a  night 
was  spent  in  a  fairly  comfortable  lodging-house. 

"  Here  are  famous  mineral  springs  both  hot  and  cold,  said 
to  possess  remarkable  curative  powers.  The  way  to  them  lies 
along  a  narrow  gorge,  bordered  with  fern  and  moss  and 
creepers  covering  the  dark  gray  rock,  and  almost  hiding  from 
view  the  river  rushing  along  below.  Tree  ferns  spread  abroad 
their  arching  fronds,  and  the  air  was  fragrant  and  heavy  with 
moisture,  for  it  is  a  verdant  hothouse  of  nature.  From  out 
the  rocks  above,  tiny  streamlets  trickle  across  into  the  river 
beneath,  some  hot,  some  cold,  and  high  over  all  nods  the 
graceful  bamboo,  with  its  whispering  leaves.  A  mile  and  a 
half  of  the  enchanted  road  brings  us  to  the  Baths,  which  are 
wedged  between  the  hillside  and  the  river  bank.  The  springs 
that  supply  them  with  hot  and  cold  water  bubble  out  of  the 
rocks  higher  up,  within  a  few  feet  of  each  other ;  the  hot  one 
at  a  temperature  of  130°  Fahrenheit." 


330  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

Port  Morant,  where  again  the  road  touches  the 
coast,  is  a  busy  shipping  point  for  the  Boston 
Fruit  Company.  Here  we  did  not  linger,  but  at 
Morant  Bay,  seven  miles  farther  on,  we  visited  the 
Court-house  and  square,  the  scene  of  the  bloody 
riots  of  1865,  and  heard  once  more  the  story  of 
the  Insurrection.  Blue  Mountain  Peak  is  most 
impressive  from  the  plaza,  over  which  it  seems 
to  rise  directly.  We  met  Mr.  Herbert  Thomas,  an 
inspector  of  the  Jamaica  Constabulary,  who  had 
given  much  time  to  an  exploration  of  the  moun- 
tain solitude,  and  who  spoke  with  enthusiasm  of 
his  wanderings.  A  little  pamphlet  which  he  gave 
me  called  "  Untrodden  Jamaica "  admirably  de- 
scribes the  difficulties  and  delights  of  mountain- 
eering in  the  island.  My  time  and  convenience 
did  not  permit  me  to  reach  the  high  altitudes.  I 
was  forced  to  decline  the  cordial  invitation  to  stop 
with  Mr.  Fawcett,  the  director  of  the  Botanical 
Gardens,  and  to  visit  him  at  Cinchona,  his  moun- 
tain home,  where  the  flowers  and  fruits  of  Eng- 
land find  a  suitable  environment.  It  is  in  this 
vicinity  that  the  governor's  family  and  other 
European  residents  enjoy  a  cool  and  delightful 
retreat  in  the  summer  months.  The  drive  from 
Morant  Bay  to  Kingston  is  through  an  arid  coun- 
try with  dry  river  courses  and  parched  vegetation, 
strongly  reminding  one  of  the  southern  slopes  of 
the  Santa  Catalinas. 


XAYMACA;  THE   ISLAND   OF   MANY   RIVERS     331 

We  spent  several  days  in  Kingston,  and  saw 
at  the  West  Indian  exhibition  the  wonderful 
natural  products  of  the  various  islands,  and 
noticed  the  scarcity  of  manufactured  articles, 
save  the  most  simple  and  primitive.  Our  only 
purchases  were  some  artistic  baskets  made  by 
the  Caribs  of  St.  Vincent.  But  one  product 
overshadowed  all  others,  and  that  was  the  distilled 
and  fermented  liquors,  not  only  from  the  islands, 
but  from  Europe  and  the  United  States  as  well. 
Displayed  conspicuously,  with  every  variety  of 
arrangement,  offered  in  enticing  form,  all  known 
kinds  of  whiskey,  rum,  brandy,  cognac,  and  beer 
seemed  represented.  I  marvelled  to  find  any  one 
sober.  We  made  many  pleasant  acquaintances 
during  our  brief  stay,  and  enjoyed  the  quaint 
hospitality  of  the  inn,  known  as  Park  Lodge, 
with  its  clean  beds  and  excellent  Creole  cuisine. 

On  our  return  to  "  Boston  "  immediate  prepara- 
tions began  for  our  homeward  journey,  as  we 
knew  to  our  cost  the  endless  delays  and  vexation 
of  native  methods.  The  beauty  of  the  scenery, 
the  quiet  charm  of  the  life  so  possessed  us,  that 
we  left  our  feudal  estate,  our  vassals  and  retainers, 
with  many  regrets.  Who  can  paint  the  glory  of 
land  and  sea  that  spread  away  at  our  feet,  from 
the  terrace  at  "  Boston."  Each  day  varied  the 
outlook — an  everchanging  scene  of  life  and  color. 
Now  the  details  appear  in  the  backward  vista. 


332  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

To-day  a  tree  close  to  the  house  stands  out 
clearly.  I  see  it  in  its  wealth  of  golden  blossom. 
Myriads  of  tiny  black  and  gold  birds  clamber 
through  the  mass  of  bloom,  searching  every  fold 
in  each  flower  with  their  slender,  pointed  bills ; 
they  are  the  honey-creepers,  the  rivals  of  the  hum- 
ming-birds. To  this  same  tree  these  jewels  flock, 
and  it  is  difficult  to  say  if  this  emerald-green  one 
with  the  exaggerated  forked  tail,  the  "  doctor  bird," 
or  that  amethystine  creature  of  larger  size,  the 
"  mango,"  or  yet  that  golden  dwarf,  scarcely  larger 
than  a  humblebee,  is  the  greater  marvel. 

Look  out  to  the  sea  and  perhaps  a  water-spout 
towers  from  its  surface  toward  the  zenith.  One 
afternoon  during  our  stay,  seven  of  these  weird 
funnel-like  towers  of  liquid  proceeded  in  stately 
and  slow  procession  down  the  coast,  hidden  finally 
by  a  distant  headland.  Among  such  neighbors 
the  tropic  bird,  not  at  all  awed,  continued  his 
aerial  pilgrimage  —  a  bird  of  grace  in  form  and 
motion,  whose  blushing  silvery  coat  contrasts 
with  the  jet-black  feathers  in  wing  and  shoulder, 
and  whose  long  attenuated  tail  seems  a  prodigal 
decoration  to  one  already  so  well  endowed. 

As  the  time  for  leaving  drew  near,  Mrs.  Scott 
was  beset  by  our  black  neighbors,  who  begged  her 
to  take  a  son  or  daughter  to  the  United  States. 
"  Please,  good  kind  missis,  or  please,  dear  sweet 
missis,  do  take  my  pick'ny."  All  ages  and  sizes 


XAYMACA;  THE   ISLAND   OF   MANY   RIVERS     333 

were  offered,  from  the  babe  in  arms  to  grown-up 
boys  and  girls.  But  when  the  day  of  sailing 
came,  Diana  McKenzie  alone  of  the  motley  array 
of  "  pick'nies  "  accompanied  us.  In  her  native 
costume,  with  bare  feet,  short  skirt,  and  gay 
plaid  handkerchief  worn  as  a  turban,  she  was  a 
picturesque  figure.  Of  pure  African  type,  smiling 
and  gay,  with  her  quaint  bobbing  courtesy,  Diana 
was  an  unfailing  source  of  entertainment  to  the 
passengers  of  the  Juniata.  Her  sole  possessions 
on  sailing  were  wrapped  in  a  handkerchief.  After 
two  years  spent  in  this  country,  where  she  gave 
most  excellent  service,  and  became  skilled  as  a  cook, 
Diana  returned  to  her  own  land.  A  large  trunk 
was  now  needed  for  her  wardrobe,  a  stylish  cloth 
costume  adorned  her  person,  a  hat  with  feathers 
had  supplanted  the  turban,  her  feet  were  tightly 
encased  in  shoes,  and  she  further  was  the  proud 
possessor  of  a  watch  and  a  muff.  Nor  had  she 
been  a  spendthrift,  for  she  had  in  addition  ten 
shining  sovereigns.  Homesickness  alone  took 
her  away,  and  but  a  few  months  elapsed  before 
she  wrote  begging  us  to  send  passage-money  that 
she  might  come  back  to  America. 

Seven  days  was  spent  on  the  trip  to  Tampa,  for 
we  stopped  at  all  the  ports  on  the  north  shore  of 
Jamaica  to  gather  our  store  of  bananas.  In  this 
way  we  saw  Port  Maria,  St.  Ann's  Bay,  Falmouth, 
Montego  Bay,  and  Lucea.  As  we  made  our  way 


334  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD    LOVER 

eastward,  the  lofty  Blue  Mountains  faded  slowly 
from  our  sight,  and  were  succeeded  by  low  hills 
and  a  rolling,  pastoral  country.  It  was  on  this 
coast,  at  Ora  Cabessa,  that  Columbus  in  1492  took 
possession  of  the  island  which  he  called  Santiago, 
in  the  name  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  The 
native  Indian  name  Xaymaca,  modernized  into 
Jamaica  has,  however,  survived.  At  Lucea  we 
finally  weighed  anchor  and  sailed  northward  to 
Florida. 

On  the  24th  of  March  we  sighted  land,  at  eight 
o'clock  were  off  Egmont  Key,  where  the  White 
Squadron  lay,  and  a  little  later  steamed  into  Port 
Tampa.  At  our  old  home,  Tarpon  Springs,  we 
spent  the  month  of  April. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

BIRD    LIFE    IN    ENGLAND 

IN  the  spring  of  1900  I  made  a  visit  to  the 
British  Museum,  London,  and  to  the  French 
Museum  in  Paris,  to  study  some  of  the  forms  of 
birds  found  in  southern  South  America.  The 
expeditions,  under  the  auspices  of  Princeton 
University,  which  had  been  sent  to  Patagonia 
to  investigate  the  paleontology  of  that  country, 
were  not  only  eminently  successful  in  that  under- 
taking, but  in  addition,  extensive  collections  of 
extant  forms  of  animal  and  plant  life  were  pro- 
cured. Among  the  former  were  some  eight 
hundred  birds.  The  entire  achievements  of  Mr. 
J.  B.  Hatcher  and  his  aids  were  so  notable  as  to 
warrant  the  publication  of  the  results  in  detail. 
I  was  intrusted  with  the  volume  in  this  series 
which  related  to  birds.  This  work  took  me  to 
the  great  museums  in  London  and  Paris,  for  the 
early  French  voyagers  had  explored  numerous 
points  in  Patagonia,  Tierra  del  Fuego,  and  the 
Falkland  Islands,  and  the  illustrious  Darwin  had 
made  a  protracted  stay  in  different  parts  of 

335 


336  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

South  America,  when  attached  to  the  Beagle  in 
that  ship's  memorable  "  voyage  round  the  world." 
Birds  were  brought  back  by  all  these  expeditions, 
and  among  them  were  the  types  of  many  little- 
known  species.  It  was  to  study  all  this  material 
that  my  visit  was  made.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to 
discuss  the  results  of  this  work  here.  The  forth- 
coming monograph  on  the  Birds  of  Patagonia 
will  reveal  the  details  to  those  who  may  be  inter- 
ested. The  collections  of  birds  in  the  British 
Museum  of  Natural  History  are  more  complete 
than  in  any  of  the  other  great  institutions.  While 
the  exhibition  collections  are  extensive,  their  great 
value  lies  in  their  educational  influence.  Here 
there  is  no  attempt  to  make  the  details  of  classi- 
fication a  basis  of  the  exhibits.  No  long  files 
of  effigies,  closely  packed  together  in  crowded 
ranks,  bewilder  the  visitor.  Every  known  kind 
of  bird  from  a  given  region  is  not  displayed.  A 
synopsis  of  the  groups  into  which  birds  are  di- 
vided is  shown  by  a  few  characteristic  forms  from 
each  of  the  divisions.  The  commoner  English 
birds  are  arranged  each  in  a  natural  setting,  the 
motive  being  to  show  some  salient  feature  of  the 
economy  of  bird-life.  Adaptability  to  environment, 
methods  of  nesting,  conventional  and  exceptional 
protection  by  color  or  mimicry  and  other  funda- 
mental problems,  are  clearly  and  well  set  forth  in 
this  way.  The  label  is  not  primarily  to  name  the 


BIRD   LIFE   IN   ENGLAND  337 

bird,  but  to  indicate  something  of  the  intricate 
life  history  that  shall  arrest  the  attention  of  the 
most  casual  visitor. 

For  those  students  who  have  gone  seriously 
into  the  study  of  ornithology,  an  unrivalled  col- 
lection of  birds'  skins  exists.  Here  not  only  is 
practically  every  known  bird,  but  the  sexes,  ages, 
individual  variations,  geographic  variations,  and 
the  like  factors  are,  wherever  possible,  exhibited 
in  a  large  and  adequate  series  of  each.  Such 
series  often  embrace  a  hundred  individuals  of  a 
given  kind  or  species.  The  aggregate  of  birds 
in  the  collection  of  this  great  museum  is  some 
five  hundred  thousand  specimens.  It  is  a  great 
lexicon  of  the  external  appearance  of  birds,  and 
is  arranged  and  conducted  on  the  lines  of  a 
reference  library. 

Nor  is  the  interest  in  birds  in  England  satisfied 
by  a  knowledge  of  names  and  relationships  to 
one  another.  Wild  birds  of  many  kinds  abound 
throughout  the  country  districts,  and  the  parks 
and  gardens  of  every  city  afford  congenial  resorts 
for  such  birds  as  the  thrush,  the  blackbird,  the 
starling,  and  many  more.  I  saw  wood-pigeons 
breeding  in  the  trees  overhanging  Piccadilly,  where 
the  hum  of  traffic  never  ceases,  and  where  night 
is  turned  to  day  by  countless  electric  and  gas 
lights.  Now  and  then  I  met  magpies  in  Regent's 
Park,  where  they  are  well  known  to  breed. 


338  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

Passing  through  the  country  by  rail  one  can- 
not but  be  struck  with  the  multitude  of  birds  at 
every  turn.  Starlings  and  lapwings  are  in  every 
meadow,  a  colony  of  rooks  on  almost  every 
farm,  and  waterhens  in  every  little  pond ;  the 
commoner  small  birds,  robin-redbreasts,  black- 
caps, yellowhammers,  and  chaffinches  crowd  the 
hedgerows,  and  with  the  thrushes  and  blackbirds 
produce  a  chorus  of  song  whose  volume  is  un- 
rivalled. 

Besides,  so  many  people,  rich  and  poor,  have  bird 
pets.  There  is  scarcely  a  family  without  one. 
Canaries,  linnets,  starlings,  blackcaps,  thrushes,  and 
blackbirds  are  among  the  more  frequent  sorts,  but 
in  the  many  private  collections  and  aviaries  the 
feathered  treasures  of  all  lands  are  gathered. 
India,  Australia,  Africa,  and  America,  the  East 
and  West  Indies,  all  contribute.  Parrots  of  many 
kinds  and  hues  have  become  so  thoroughly  ac- 
climatized as  to  breed  readily  in  confinement, 
and  the  delicate  finches  and  weavers  of  Africa 
and  Australia  live  and  thrive  in  out-of-door  avi- 
aries the  year  round.  The  Avicultural  Society  is 
only  one  of  a  number  of  organizations  which  pub- 
lish regular  proceedings  monthly  devoted  to  live 
birds  in  confinement.  Prizes  and  medals  of 
award  are  conferred  on  successful  breeders,  and  a 
keen  interest  is  shown  in  the  manifold  original 
contributions  to  this  and  similar  magazines.  A 


BIRD   LIFE   IN   ENGLAND'  339 

recent  account  of  the  breeding  of  the  American 
catbird  in  an  aviary  will  serve  to  indicate  and  em- 
phasize the  kind  of  interest  manifested.  No- 
where are  wild  or  domesticated  birds  so  much  a 
part  of  the  people's  lives  as  in  England. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

THE  NATURALIST'S  VISION 

IN  the  foregoing  chapters  it  has  been  my  en- 
deavor to  present  a  vista  of  the  work  and  growth 
of  a  naturalist.  To  those  who  have  followed  the 
story,  it  will  be  apparent  that  the  fundamental 
work,  the  skeleton,  or  frame  on  which  the  struc- 
ture was  reared,  was  the  accumulation  of  collec- 
tions of  concrete  things.  In  this  case,  these  things 
happen  to  be  birds.  It  seems  important,  however, 
to  indicate  how  far-reaching  is  the  instinct  or 
passion  for  collecting.  By  no  means  confined  to 
the  human  race,  it  is  an  attribute  of  the  miser 
as  well  as  the  philanthropist.  Surely  no  miser  or 
collector  of  bric-a-brac  is  more  assiduous  than  is 
the  magpie  in  the  same  direction ;  and  it  is  only 
necessary  to  have  some  comprehensive  view  of 
animal  life  in  general  to  gain  the  knowledge  that 
the  passion  of  obtaining  or  possessing,  crops  out 
everywhere  in  the  animal  kingdom.  It  is  not 
always  clear  what  results  may  accrue  from  this 
instinct,  what  taste  will  develop,  or  what  line  of 
work  follow  collecting,  whether  this  be  postage- 
stamps,  birds,  or  gold. 

340 


THE   NATURALIST'S  VISION  341 

In  this  story  I  have  not  attempted  to  more 
than  suggest  the  result  in  the  case  in  ques- 
tion ;  but  it  is  my  purpose  in  this  chapter  to 
summarize  it  in  some  detail.  I  have  related  that, 
during  a  certain  period,  about  1884,  when  in  Ari- 
zona, the  opportunity  was  embraced  to  have  a 
variety  of  different  kinds  of  creatures  as  pets,  and 
it  does  not  seem  essential  even  to  recapitulate 
this.  Following  the  narrative  through  the  sub- 
sequent time  passed  in  Florida,  it  is  plain  that, 
besides  wild  animals  as  pets,  another  factor  com- 
manded attention;  for  here  animals  were  kept 
for  a  definite  object.  To  study  their  growth  and 
development,  if  nothing  more,  was  my  aim  at 
that  time.  During  the  summer  of  1895,  through 
an  accident,  this  interest  began  to  assume  more 
definite  and  concrete  proportions.  Late  in  June, 
while  collecting  one  day,  I  killed  a  bird  that  flew 
by  me.  It  passed  rapidly,  and  I  was  not  quite 
sure  as  to  its  exact  identity.  On  taking  it  in  my 
hand  I  found  it  was  a  female  Baltimore  oriole. 
Looking  at  the  bird,  I  at  once  discovered  that  it 
probably  had  a  nest  in  the  vicinity,  and  that  it 
was  feeding  young  ones.  By  no  means  sure  that 
the  male  bird  would  take  upon  himself  the  duties 
of  both  parents,  I  determined  to  look  after  the 
young,  if  the  nest  was  not  too  difficult  to  find. 
This  proved  to  be  an  easy  task,  for  it  was  in  the 
tree  nearest  me.  There  were  three  young  birds 


342  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

in  the  brood,  just  beginning  to  show  the  larger 
wing  and  tail  feathers,  but  otherwise  covered 
with  down.  They  were  not  more  than  five  or  six 
days  old.  The  nest  and  its  inmates  were  carried 
to  the  house,  and  while  I  did  not  feel  at  all  sure 
that  it  was  possible  to  rear  the  tiny  creatures,  I 
determined  to  try  the  experiment.  The  fledg- 
lings were  alike  in  size  and  appearance,  and  in 
order  to  have  a  record,  in  case  it  should  prove 
of  value,  one  of  them  was  preserved  in  alcohol. 
The  other  two  I  attempted  to  rear  by  hand,  and 
was  entirely  successful. 

It  is  sufficient  for  my  present  purpose  to  say 
here  that  these  birds  were  not  only  reared,  but 
lived  to  be  between  five  and  six  years  old,  and 
that  they  ultimately  died,  as  I  believe,  of  old  age. 
Throughout  their  life  they  enjoyed  as  large  an 
amount  of  liberty  as  was  possible  under  the  cir- 
cumstances, and  while  they  were  confined  at 
times  to  a  cage,  there  was  hardly  a  day  during 
the  first  three  years  that  they  did  not  enjoy  the 
liberty  of  flying  about  the  rooms  of  the  house. 
Later,  when  I  determined  from  the  interest  that 
they  awakened  in  me  to  utilize  a  room  entirely 
for  live  birds,  these  two  orioles  were  never  con- 
fined in  narrow  quarters.  In  a  paper  recently 
published,  and  referred  to  in  the  appendix,  I  have 
set  forth  a  record  of  the  development  of  these 
two  birds,  and  of  their  powers  of  song,  so  I  shall 


THE   NATURALIST'S  VISION  343 

not  attempt  to  elaborate  the  story  again,  but  refer 
the  reader  to  the  paper  there  cited. 

With  the  possession  and  study  of  these  two 
Baltimore  orioles  there  began  a  definite  plan  on 
my  part  to  become  more  familiar  with  birds  as 
individuals,  and  to  that  end  to  keep  some  of  the 
commoner  kinds  of  North  American  birds  in 
confinement.  When  the  orioles  were  about  two 
years  old,  and  I  had  become  fully  aware  of  the 
large  field  for  investigation  which  they  suggested, 
in  the  spring  I  collected  a  few  live  birds ;  a  nest 
of  blue  jays,  a  nest  of  rose-breasted  grosbeaks,  and 
a  nest  of  yellow-breasted  chats,  as  well  as  an  addi- 
tional nest  of  Baltimore  orioles ;  in  all  some  four- 
teen or  fifteen  nestlings  were  the  result  of  my 
efforts.  At  the  time  of  this  writing,  August, 
1902,  a  number  of  these  birds  are  still  alive, 
notably  the  blue  jays,  some  of  the  grosbeaks 
and  orioles. 

From  such  a  beginning  gradually  there  has 
developed  what  may  best  be  described  as  a  labo- 
ratory for  the  study  of  live  birds,  and  between 
four  or  five  hundred  individuals  are  now  installed 
and  under  constant  observation.  These  embrace 
many  North  American  species,  and  in  addition, 
European,  Indian,  and  Australian  forms,  with 
some  representatives  from  African  and  South 
American.  All  these  birds  are  allowed  as  large 
an  amount  of  liberty  as  circumstances  permit, 


344  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

though  for  certain  kinds  of  observation  and 
experiment  the  cage,  with  its  limited  area,  is 
essential. 

I  wish  briefly  now  to  describe  some  of  the  more 
obvious  problems  which  it  is  possible  to  inves- 
tigate under  such  conditions  as  I  have  set  forth. 
Chief  among  these  I  should  place  the  opportunity 
to  consider  an  animal  as  an  individual.  The 
fact  that  we  do  not  consider  wild  animals  as  in- 
dividuals is  patent  in  our  method  of  speaking  of 
them.  Our  names  for  them  are  the  names  of 
groups  of  individuals  that  appear  to  us,  on  the 
whole,  alike.  We  call  them  robins,  wood-thrushes, 
bluebirds,  and  catbirds.  This  does  not  seem  re- 
markable, because  our  point  of  view  of  foreigners 
of  our  own  kind,  human  beings,  emphasizes  it. 
In  looking  at  a  large  body  of  Chinamen,  I  think 
any  one  will  fail,  unless  familiar  with  this  race, 
to  individualize  them.  The  conventional  idea  of 
a  Chinaman  is  of  a  race  and  not  of  individuals, 
and  this  comes  about  because  of  our  lack  of  oppor- 
tunity to  associate  with  Chinamen.  It  is  precisely 
the  same  with  robins  or  bluebirds,  catbirds  or 
wood-thrushes. 

A  gentleman  whom  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
knowing,  and  who  was  extremely  fond  of  horses 
and  greatly  interested  in  them,  was  so  unfortunate 
as  to  be  unable  to  live  in  the  country  where  he 
might  devote  his  time  to  the  study  of  these  ani- 


THE   NATURALIST'S  VISION  345 

mals.  He  was  a  runner  or  collector  for  one  of 
the  large  banks  in  the  lower  part  of  New  York, 
and  his  daily  routine  of  work  took  him  as  far  as 
23d  Street,  every  day  over  a  regular  beaten  route. 
This  occupation  he  pursued  for  some  seven  or 
eight  years.  He  has  assured  me  many  times  in 
conversation,  that  during  that  period  he  became 
so  familiar  with  the  horse  population  of  the  lower 
part  of  New  York,  that  he  individualized  the 
horses  and  realized  after  a  short  time  whenever 
he  met  a  new  one,  and  also  missed  one  he  had 
constantly  seen,  if  it  failed  to  appear.  I  think 
few  of  us  go  farther  in  the  investigation  of 
horses  than  to  distinguish  color;  because  when 
we  have  said  brown,  bay,  chestnut,  sorrel,  gray, 
white,  we  have  pretty  nearly  run  our  gamut. 
Small  horses  we  call  ponies,  and  another  kind  of 
grouping  would  be  draught  horses  and  driving 
horses.  Farther  than  this  very  few  people  elabo- 
rate the  individuality  of  horses.  But  here  was  a 
man,  not  of  specially  keen  powers  of  observation, 
who  had  a  great  interest  in  this  particular  kind 
of  animal,  and  who  individualized  them,  at  least 
as  far  as  their  appearance  was  concerned,  so  that 
they  were  to  him  no  longer  all  kinds  of  colors  or 
sizes,  but  became  to  him  just  as  much  personages 
as  "  Brown  "  and  "  Smith  "  are  to  the  friends  who 
know  them.  This  is  dwelt  upon  to  emphasize 
the  matter  of  individuality. 


346  THE   STORY  OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

As  a  second  suggestion,  I  believe  that,  with 
the  knowledge  of  individuals  (for  example,  if  you 
become  so  conversant  with  a  given  number  of 
robins  —  say  fifteen  or  twenty  —  as  to  know 
them  by  their  faces),  you  are  in  a  position  to  be 
able  to  examine  the  nature  and  extent  of  variation 
of  a  kind  that  cannot  be  set  down  and  formulated 
in  measure  of  exact  dimension.  For  many  years 
a  great  deal  of  attention,  care,  and  time  has 
been  given  to  detailed  measurements  of  different 
parts  of  birds,  as  the  wing,  the  beak,  and  the  tail ; 
but  I  am  not  aware  that  any  one  has  given  great 
consideration  or  has  had  the  opportunity  to  give 
great  consideration  to  the  variation,  for  instance, 
in  expression,  carriage,  or  song  of  different  indi- 
viduals. Traits  of  character,  still  more  subtle, 
which  may  best  be  described  as  mental,  are,  to  say 
the  least,  difficult  to  become  acquainted  with  in 
birds  or  other  animals  in  a  wild  state. 

It  is  true  that  naturalists  and  ornithologists 
understand  pretty  thoroughly  that  there  is  a  cor- 
relation in  color  with  the  sex  or  age,  or  with  the 
season  of  the  year  during  which  a  kind  of  bird  is 
observed,  and  I  think  that  most  of  us  are  aware 
that  there  is  a  very  wide  variation  in  the  intensity 
and  shade  of  color  in  at  least  some  kinds  of  birds 
which  does  not  correlate  apparently  with  any  of 
these  several  factors.  It  seems  obvious  that  what- 
ever changes  occur  in  appearance  which  correlate 


THE   NATURALIST'S  VISION  347 

with  sex,  or  age,  or  season,  can  be  recorded  of  the 
commoner  species  of  birds  when  kept  in  as  nearly 
natural  condition  as  possible  the  year  round. 

It  is  not  so  easy  to  observe  changes  of  another 
kind;  but  I  suppose  most  people  realize  that 
birds  as  a  whole,  present  in  the  tropics  gayer 
colors  than  in  the  more  northern  regions  ;  and 
probably  realize  that  the  birds  of  the  desert  and 
the  birds  of  the  region  of  perpetual  snow  have 
taken  on  a  general  shade  of  coloring  closely 
assimilating  with  their  environment.  It  does  not 
seem  at  all  impossible,  given  artificial  condi- 
tions for  producing  an  average  temperature  of 
greater  or  less  degree,  together  with  a  definite 
amount  of  average  humidity  in  the  atmosphere, 
as  well  as  a  measurable  supply  of  light,  that  any 
forms  kept  under  such  conditions  might,  and 
probably  would,  after  a  number  of  generations, 
show  changes  which  we  could  conclude  were 
largely  due  to  such  a  new  environment  as  had 
been  artificially  created.  In  short,  it  would  not 
be  impossible  in  a  laboratory  to  draw  conclusions 
and  make  observations  as  to  what  conditions  pro- 
duce certain  results  in  color. 

In  speaking  to  an  eminent  ornithologist  in 
England  of  the  possibilities  for  observing  birds 
in  confinement,  and  whether  it  were  worth  while 
to  go  to  the  expense  that  would  be  thereby 
entailed,  he  suggested  to  me  that,  if  we  could 


348  THE   STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

learn  through  such  means  the  changes  in  appear- 
ance that  were  due  to  what  is  known  as  moulting, 
—  the  periodic  shedding  and  replacing  of  the 
feathers  of  the  coat,  —  this  alone  would  more 
than  compensate  for  the  time,  the  labor,  and  the 
expense  involved.  It  is  an  open  question  how 
much  of  the  difference  in  appearance,  which  all 
of  us  realize  occurs  in  birds  at  various  seasons, 
is  due  to  direct  moult,  how  much  is  due  to  the 
wear  of  the  feathers.  The  vexed  question  as  to 
whether  feathers  themselves  change  color,  with 
strenuous  advocates  pro  and  con,  is  still  a  bone 
of  contention,  and  no  one  knows  definitely  of  an 
experiment  to  settle  the  matter. 

Animals  of  various  kinds  have  been  domesticated 
and  bred  in  domestication  or  captivity  for  many 
generations  of  men ;  but  I  am  not  aware  that 
there  exists  anywhere  a  record  of  just  how  the 
various  breeders  have  brought  about  the  results 
which  are  patent  to  any  one  at  the  present  day. 
It  is  a  question  of  economic  value  to  know  the 
steps  necessary  to  pursue  in  order  to  evolve  from 
a  common  ancestry  by  artificial  selection,  types  of 
animals  which,  morphologically,  at  least,  are  as 
widely  separated  as  the  Percheron  draught  horse 
and  the  thoroughbred  racer,  or  the  carrier  and 
fantail  pigeon. 

It  is  generally  conceded  that  the  various  breeds 
of  pigeons  have  been  bred  from  a  common  stock, 


THE   NATURALIST'S  VISION  349 

the  rock-pigeon  of  Europe ;  but  what  definite 
steps  were  taken,  or  what  methods  were  pursued 
to  obtain  such  divergent  forms  as  fantails,  tum- 
blers, and  carriers  is  not  of  record.  Similarly, 
canary-birds  have  common  progenitors  attributed 
to  them,  so  that  their  departure  from  the  original 
type  is  very  great,  the  breeds  being  as  defined  and 
marked  as  are  the  breeds  of  pigeons.  What  steps 
the  breeders  and  fanciers  took  to  achieve  such 
ends  is  very  obscure.  It  would  seem  that  there 
is  an  underlying  reason  for  all  this.  The  success- 
ful breeder  was  loath  to  make  public  the  methods 
pursued ;  because  as  long  as  he  had  a  patent  on  a 
given  kind  of  horse  or  bird,  desirable  in  a  com- 
mercial way,  he  was  so  much  better  off  than  the 
other  breeders ;  and  therefore,  while  many  treatises 
have  been  written,  and  much  has  been  discussed 
by  breeders,  more  has  been  concealed,  or  at  least 
allowed  to  go  unrecorded. 

So  far  the  results  of  variation  that  breeders 
have  obtained  are  represented  by  what  are  known 
as  thoroughbreds ;  forms  of  life  presenting  at 
least  external  characters  as  definite  as  those  upon 
which  wild  species  are  based.  The  adventitious 
aid  of  man  appears  to  be  essential,  however,  to  the 
prolongation  of  any  of  the  so-called  thoroughbred 
types  of  domesticated  animals,  whether  bird  or 
beast.  The  moment  that  man's  efforts  are  relaxed, 
and  commingling  of  the  various  thoroughbred 


350  THE   STORY   OF   A  BIRD   LOVER 

forms  is  allowed,  as,  for  instance,  domesticated 
pigeons,  the  reversion  to  the  common  ancestral 
type  is  rapid  and  eventually  complete. 

Birds  so  widely  separated  in  appearance  as  fan- 
tails  and  carrier  pigeons  breed  readily  together, 
and  their  offspring  are  fertile ;  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  birds  so  closely  resembling  one  another  as 
the  hermit  and  the  olive-backed  thrush  of  eastern 
North  America,  which  at  points  have  the  same 
breeding-range,  appear  never  to  interbreed,  or, 
if  such  an  event  occurs,  the  offspring  —  the 
hybrids  —  do  not  perpetuate  the  new  form  so 
originated.  All  the  foregoing  is  set  forth  in 
some  detail  in  order  to  maintain  the  position  that, 
while  the  efforts  of  man  have  produced  wide  di- 
vergences in  thoroughbred  forms  of  domesticated 
animals  —  types  that  any  naturalist  would  consider 
as  separate  species  if  they  were  wild  —  they  are 
only  to-be  regarded  as  morphological  species,  and 
have  no  true  physiological  basis.  The  converse 
seems  to  be  the  rule  among  wild  animals. 

I  am  thoroughly  of  the  opinion  that  a  careful 
and  prolonged  effort,  conducted  under  the  proper 
conditions  and  with  proper  equipment,  would  re- 
sult not  only  in  the  establishment  of  what  I  have 
termed  morphological  species,  but  that  ultimately 
in  a  laboratory  of  the  kind  I  have  indicated,  true, 
physiological  species  could  be  established ;  forms 
that  would  not  revert  to  an  ancestral  type  if  left 


THE   NATURALIST'S  VISION  351 

to  their  own  devices.  At  any  rate,  extended  ex- 
periment of  this  kind  would  go  far  toward  being 
an  absolute  demonstration  of  the  mutability  of 
species  as  set  forth  in  the  hypothesis  of  evolution 
by  Charles  Darwin. 

The  vista  presented  is  certainly  an  alluring  one, 
and  vital  problems  await  an  answer.  I  have  not 
touched  on  the  factors  of  heredity ;  but  I  suggest 
to  those  who  have  battled  in  a  war  of  words  with 
Weissman,  —  a  battle  in  which  so  much  ink  has 
been  spilled, — that  data  can  be  obtained  as  to 
whether  acquired  characteristics  are  inherited. 
Also  that  much  can  be  added  to  our  knowledge 
in  regard  to  prepotency,  and  that  how  great  a 
factor  telegony  is,  may  be  realized  after  prolonged 
experiment. 

To  be  more  explicit,  I  propose  to  ask  a  ques- 
tion, and  to  dwell  on  a  method  leading  to  its  solu- 
tion. It  deals  directly  with  one  or  another  of 
these  problems. 

Do  singing  birds  inherit  the  instinct  of  the 
method  of  song,  or  must  that  method  be  acquired 
by  imitating  the  song  of  the  parent  ?  That  pas- 
serine birds  inherit  a  disposition  to  sing  is 
obvious ;  but  what  of  the  method  ?  Is  the  song 
of  the  robin  as  we  hear  it  an  inheritance  or  is  it 
a  matter  of  education  ?  There  are  various  theories 
propounded  in  answer  to  this  query  substantiated 
by  hearsay,  by  probability,  and  by  some  partial 


352  THE  STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

and  inadequate  experiments  of  neither  prolonged 
or  exhaustive  character.  Who  has  tried,  or  had  the 
opportunity  to  try,  to  answer  by  demonstration  the 
simple  query  propounded  ?  Where  is  the  detailed 
account  given  of  a  single  definite  experiment,  or, 
better  still,  a  series  that  should  afford  a  necessary 
and  final  solution  ?  And  yet,  of  the  many  prob- 
lems indicated,  this  is  one  of  the  simplest,  the  least 
complicated,  and  probably  the  easiest  of  solution 
and  demonstration.  How  can  it  be  done  ? 

Conceive  a  laboratory  containing,  among  other 
equipments,  a  series  of  sound-proof  rooms.  Take 
a  nest  of  robins,  say  there  are  four  in  the  family, 
let  them  be  as  young  as  possible.  They  are  then 
blind  and  naked.  It  occurs  to  your  mind  as  you 
read  this  how  impracticable  is  the  suggestion, 
how  delicate  the  organism,  how  ephemeral  the 
life !  In  answer  I  have  only  to  say  that  in  June, 
1897, 1  t°°k  f°ur  nests  of  young  robins  and  reared 
them  by  hand.  From  these  I  secured  fourteen 
individuals;  and  as  I  am  writing,  late  in  June, 
1902,  they  are  all  alive,  and  are  vigorous,  healthy 
birds.  This  morning  as  I  left  my  bird-room  a 
pair  of  them  were  raising,  with  great  care,  a  brood 
of  young  ones. 

Let  us  return  to  the  consideration  of  the  prob- 
lem. Isolate  the  brood  in  one  of  the  sound-proof 
rooms  and  rear  the  birds  by  hand  so  that  they  do 
not  hear  or  see  any  other  birds  until  they  are  at 


THE   NATURALISTS  VISION  353 

least  two  years  old.  Do  not  suggest  any  method 
of  song  to  them  by  whistling,  or  by  singing,  or 
playing  on  any  instrument.  We  will  now  con- 
clude that  their  habits  are  fixed,  and  whatever 
sounds  they  produce  are  at  least  not  the  outcome 
of  imitating  other  birds.  Record  the  results ;  and 
not  being  satisfied  with  this,  bring  other  competent 
ornithologists  to  observe  them  and  the  end  that 
has  been  attained. 

Here,  at  least,  is  the  beginning  of  an  answer  to 
the  question.  To  carry  it  a  step  farther;  asso- 
ciate a  new  brood  of  very  young  robins  with  the 
birds  first  raised.  That  is,  put  this  second  brood 
where  they  may  hear  and  see  what  your  first  brood 
does,  if  anything,  in  the  way  of  song,  and  the  mo- 
tions connected  with  it.  Observe  and  record  the 
results  as  with  the  original  brood.  Better  still, 
and  it  is  entirely  possible,  for,  as  I  have  indicated, 
under  proper  conditions  even  robins  will  breed  in 
captivity,  mate  a  pair  of  the  hand-reared  birds. 
You  may  observe  what  part  inheritance  or  instinct 
plays  in  building  nests  of  the  conventional  type ; 
and  at  the  same  time,  when  the  second  brood 
arrives  at  the  period  of  song,  will  they  sing  like 
wild  robins,  two  generations  away,  or  not  ? 

Finally,  if  song  is  an  inheritance,  —  that  is,  as 
far  as  its  method  is  concerned  (for  I  have  no  doubt 
that  the  disposition  to  sing  is  inherited  in  the 
group  of  song-birds),  —  let  me  present  another 

2A 


354  THE   STORY  OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

argument.  It  is  well  known  that  for  upward  of  a 
century  bird-fanciers  have  turned  their  attention 
among  other  matters  to  the  breeding  of  hybrids. 
Bechstein,  dealing  with  this  subject  as  long  ago 
as  1795,  enumerates  the  following  crosses  with 
the  canary-bird.  He  describes  them  all  in  much 
detail. 

1.  Canary-bird  crossed  with  the  European  gold- 
finch. 

2.  Canary-bird  crossed  with  the  siskin. 

3.  Canary-bird  crossed  with  the  green  finch. 

4.  Canary-bird  crossed  with  the  serin  finch. 

5.  Canary-bird  crossed  with  the  linnet. 

In  addition,  other  authors  have  spoken  of  hy- 
brids between  canaries  and  nonpareils,  canaries 
and  bobolinks,  as  well  as  crosses  between  canaries 
and  indigo-birds.  Moreover,  it  does  not  seem 
improbable  that  crosses  between  canaries  and 
various  other  finches  might  be  obtained.  But 
it  is  sufficient  for  the  purpose  we  have  in  view 
to  have  emphasized  the  factor  of  hybridity  as 
one  of  common  occurrence,  by  the  examples  set 
forth  above. 

Now,  the  usual  method  of  obtaining  hybrids  is 
to  utilize  as  parents  female  canary-birds  mated 
with  the  male  of  one  of  the  foregoing  kinds  of 
birds,  and  the  reasons  for  this  is  obvious,  but 
perhaps  worth  elucidation.  Through  many  gen- 
erations of  captivity  the  canary-bird  has  become 


THE   NATURALIST'S  VISION  355 

almost  as  thoroughly  domesticated  as  are  the 
various  breeds  of  common  fowls.  At  the  present 
day  the  chief  reasons  for  confinement  of  these 
little  creatures  is  one  of  protection.  Obviously 
their  small  size  renders  them  an  easy  prey  to 
other  domestic  animals,  and  were  they  allowed, 
in  their  innocence,  the  liberty,  for  instance,  of 
chickens  and  dogs,  I  fancy  the  race,  to  say  the 
least,  would  suffer.  However,  when  confined  in 
cages,  canary-birds  nest  and  breed  at  proper 
seasons  whenever  an  opportunity  is  afforded. 
Besides,  the  canary  is  one  of  the  few  small  birds 
of  the  passerine  group  that  has  been  bred  in 
captivity  for  a  long  period,  so  that  they  are  no 
longer  suspicious,  do  not  resent  intrusion,  and 
readily  allow  their  attendant  to  be  familiar  with 
them,  even  during  that  period  of  peculiar  sensi- 
bility when  the  perpetuation  of  the  species  is  the 
paramount  passion.  It  is  quite  different  with  the 
various  other  birds  enumerated,  as  having  crossed 
with  the  canary ;  and,  moreover,  most  fanciers 
have  very  largely  confined  their  efforts  with  wild 
songsters,  to  males  of  the  several  kinds,  because 
song  is  the  principal  attribute  that  has  attracted 
fanciers  to  keeping  birds  in  confinement.  Even 
where  both  sexes  sing,  the  males  are  easily  the 
finer  performers. 

To  follow  my  argument,  it  would  seem  that  the 
crosses    derived   from   the   various   parents   sug- 


356  THE   STORY  OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

gested,  if  the  method  of  song  were  an  inherited 
factor,  would  partake  by  prepotency  of  more  of 
the  quality  of  the  song  of  one  parent  than  of  the 
other.  Namely,  given  a  canary  and  a  goldfinch 
crossed  some  of  these  resulting  offspring  should 
inherit  the  characteristic  song  of  the  canary,  while 
others  ought,  on  the  theory  laid  down,  to  sing  like 
goldfinches;  and  this  is  applicable  to  the  other 
crosses  enumerated.  At  any  rate,  if  a  number  of 
different  broods  were  taken  into  consideration, 
it  would  appear  that  the  matter  of  prepotency 
should  produce  at  least  some  birds  that  would 
inherit  the  canary  song. 

Hybrids,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  appear  to  have 
the  secondary  sexual  characteristic  of  song  con- 
fined almost  exclusively  to  the  males ;  and  so 
far  as  personal  experience  goes,  I  have  yet  to 
hear  a  male  hybrid  of  the  goldfinch  and  canary, 
the  siskin  and  canary,  or  the  linnet  and  canary, 
sing  with  any  of  the  attributes  of  canaries ;  nor, 
so  far  as  I  am  aware,  do  they  possess  the  absolute 
song-method  of  the  male  parents,  though  their 
song  greatly  resembles  it.  I  may  say  in  conclu- 
sion that  all  the  hybrids  I  have  observed  had 
canaries  for  female  parents.  This  seems  to  me  to 
indicate  that  the  factors  of  propinquity  and  imita- 
tion are  fundamental  in  establishing  the  method  of 
song  in  at  least  this  kind  of  young  bird.  Namely, 
given  a  young  bird  with  an  inherent  power  of 


THE   NATURALIST'S  VISION  357 

song,  the  method  of  expression  of  such  a  song  is 
largely  derived  by  hearing  during  its  infancy  the 
song  of  the  male  parent,  it  being  nearer  and  more 
readily  noticed. 

I  cannot  but  allude  to  the  factor  of  adaptability, 
and  its  bearing  on  the  domestication  of  animals. 
One  reason,  and  perhaps  the  greatest  one  for  our 
limited  number  of  domesticated  animals,  is  the  lack 
of  adaptability  and  plasticity  together  with  that 
of  docility  among  wild  forms.  Hence  only  those 
most  readily  dealt  with  have  been  utilized.  It  is 
probable  that  among  the  many  kinds  still  untried 
valuable  forms  might  be  domesticated.  Here 
is  evidently  one  field  of  economic  value.  An- 
other economic  field  has  been  developed  among 
animals  even  lower  than  birds;  so  that  it  does 
not  seem  visionary  to  suggest  the  possibility 
of  re-stocking  some  of  the  depopulated  regions 
with  native  insectivorous  birds  in  a  similar  manner 
to  that  in  which  the  United  States  Fish  Commis- 
sion has  succeeded  in  re-stocking,  not  only  our 
inland  waters,  but  also  rivers  and  estuaries.  Mi- 
gratory fish,  such  as  the  shad  and  salmon,  have 
been  dealt  with  in  this  way;  and  their  journeys 
away  from  their  breeding  grounds  are  quite  as 
mysterious  as  those  of  birds,  and  perhaps  less 
understood,  if  that  were  possible. 

Instinct,  habit,  and  the  development  of  intelli- 
gence have  been  studied,  but  not  continuously, 


358  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

and,  on  the  whole,  in  rather  a  desultory  way. 
Alone,  these  problems  present  a  field  whose  vast- 
ness  psychologists  appreciate. 

What  do  we  know  of  the  leisure  of  animals  ? 
Do  they  have  leisure,  and  how  do  they  utilize  it  ? 

Finally,  let  us  consider  what  may  be  termed 
opportunity.  I  have  said  that  in  the  tentative 
establishment  which  I  have  fostered  there  are 
perhaps  some  five  hundred  birds.  I  had  occasion 
the  other  day  to  show  a  friend  of  particular 
intelligence  this  collection.  We  commented  on 
the  beauty  of  color,  the  grace  of  form  and  move- 
ment, the  alertness,  and  the  aesthetic  pleasure  de- 
rived therefrom,  and  from  song.  We  looked  at 
the  wood-thrushes,  meadow-larks,  song-sparrows 
and  bluebirds,  rose-breasted  grosbeaks  and  ori- 
oles, at  the  weaver-birds  and  toucans,  at  the  jays 
and  plovers.  In  the  breeding  room  a  new  brood 
of  hybrids,  which  I  then  discovered  for  the  first 
time,  were  of  interest.  They  were  crosses  be- 
tween the  siskin  of  Europe  and  a  canary.  In 
other  rooms  we  saw  parroquets  from  Australia, 
macaws  from  South  America,  and  the  white  cock- 
atoo from  New  Guinea.  The  mina  laughed  and 
talked  with  us,  the  jackdaws  watched  us  in  a 
furtive  way.  The  whole  was  entertaining  —  a 
busy  scene  of  life !  My  friend  seemed  both 
amused  and  deeply  interested,  and  so  we  left 
them.  That  night,  coming  home  from  some  en- 


THE   NATURALIST'S  VISION  359 

tertainment,  as  we  walked  along  my  friend  said 
to  me :  "  It  seems  great  work,  but  I  do  not  exactly 
understand  what  you  want  to  do  with  those  ma- 
caws. What  can  you  learn  from  them  ?  "  My 
answer  was :  — 

"  I  don't  know ;  but  I  do  know  that  there  is 
opportunity,"  and  I  related  the  following  story. 

Many  years  ago,  on  the  night  of  October  19, 
1880,  I  paid  a  long-delayed  visit  to  Professor 
Charles  A.  Young.  I  was  very  busy  as  a  field- 
naturalist  in  those  days,  and  so  thoroughly  occu- 
pied that  I  had  failed  to  take  advantage  of  an 
opportunity  which  was  within  my  reach.  Shortly 
after  I  came  to  Princeton,  Professor  Young  was 
called  to  the  chair  of  astronomy,  and  a  radical  re- 
organization of  the  astronomical  laboratories  and 
observatories  was  undertaken.  When  the  whole 
was  completed  under  his  direction,  he  was  natur- 
ally proud  of  the  facilities,  and  was  anxious  for 
the  staff  of  the  university  to  realize  the  excel- 
lence of  the  equipment.  He  had  invited  me 
many  times,  during  an  entire  year,  to  visit  the 
laboratory  at  night,  but  one  thing  after  another 
prevented.  However,  I  think  the  chief  reason 
for  my  delay  was  that  I  did  not  appreciate  that 
there  was  any  special  relation  between  the  great 
science  of  astronomy  and  the  problems  of  life 
and  distribution  which  I  was  engaged  in  study- 
ing. 


360  THE   STORY  OF  A  BIRD   LOVER 

As  I  have  said,  I  did  finally  pay  the  visit.  I 
was  received  with  great  courtesy  and  shown  all 
the  apparatus  and  equipment,  and  finally  many  of 
the  glories  of  the  heavens  were  viewed  through 
the  new  telescope ;  Jupiter  with  its  moons,  Saturn 
with  its  belt,  and  other  marvels.  When  I  was 
about  leaving,  somewhere  in  the  neighborhood  of 
nine  o'clock,  the  full  moon  had  just  risen  above 
the  horizon.  It  attracted  my  attention,  and  I 
asked  if  I  might  look  at  it  through  the  telescope. 
The  desired  view  revealed  a  great  silvery  disk, 
looking  to  me  perhaps  some  three  or  four  feet 
across.  On  the  glistening  background  the  land- 
scape, if  so  it  might  be  called,  of  the  moon  became 
very  apparent ;  but  presently,  as  I  watched,  every- 
thing else  was  forgotten,  as  I  saw  an  object  which, 
at  the  great  distance,  seemed  little  larger  than  a 
fly,  proceeding  across  the  whole  field  of  vision,  sil- 
houetted against  the  shining  satellite.  My  sensa- 
tions as  I  watched  the  spectacle  are  hardly  to  be 
described,  for  I  knew  I  had  seen,  at  least  once, 
what  had  never  been  recorded  before.  I  had  seen 
a  small  song-bird  flying  at  night.  Other  people 
had  heard  them,  and  I  had  heard  them,  but  no 
one  had  recorded  seeing  a  song-bird  fly  at  night. 
I  turned  to  Professor  Young  and  asked  him  if  he 
often  saw  birds  in  that  way  when  he  was  observ- 
ing the  moon,  and  his  answer  was,  "  I  have  seen 
them  for  forty  years." 


THE   NATURALIST'S  VISION  361 

Now,  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  state  that 
here  was  an  astronomer  of  eminence,  and  an 
ornithologist  of  varied  experience,  and  up  to  that 
moment  I  do  not  believe  that  either  of  them  (and 
I  know  one  never  had)  apprehended  that  there 
was  any  connection  whatever  between  the  two 
sciences.  Further  inquiry  elicited  from  Professor 
Young  the  fact  that  he  did  not  realize  that  it 
was  anything  of  consequence  to  see  a  bird  fly 
at  night ;  and  moreover,  he  was  not  well  enough 
acquainted  with  birds  to  be  able  to  determine 
anything  definite  as  to  the  special  kinds  observed. 

I  did  not  go  away  from  the  astronomical  labo- 
ratory that  night  until  I  had  seen  many  birds  sil- 
houetted on  the  background  of  the  moon  as  they 
flew  by,  and  before  leaving  I  knew  definitely 
that  I  had  seen  a  number  of  birds  of  whose 
identity  I  was  as  sure  as  if  they  had  passed 
close  to  me  in  broad  daylight.  I  saw  a  barn- 
swallow,  a  goldfinch,  a  purple  grackle,  birds  that 
I  could  refer  to  the  family  of  sparrows,  others  to 
the  family  of  wood- warblers,  and  at  least  two  dif- 
ferent species  of  woodpecker,  one  of  which,  I  have 
no  doubt,  was  the  yellow-bellied  sapsucker.  I 
refer  such  of  my  readers  as  care  for  details,  to 
a  paper  cited  in  the  appendix,  published  on  the 
subject,  which  sets  forth  the  observations. 

This  is  what  I  mean  by  opportunity;  and  I 
conceive  that  the  possibility  of  observing  things 


362  THE   STORY   OF  A   BIRD   LOVER 

which  are  not  anticipated,  is  one  of  the  greatest 
inducements  for  continued  observation  in  any 
given  field.  While  I  am  not  sure  in  my  mind  of 
any  specific  reason  for  keeping  certain  birds, 
notably  macaws,  in  captivity,  I  feel  assured  that 
the  connection  and  the  probability  of  events  is 
greater  ornithologically  between  macaws  and  the 
work  of  the  ornithologist  than  is  relationship  be- 
tween astronomy  and  migration. 

Zoological  study  and  investigation  while  car- 
ried on  in  many  lines,  has,  up  to  the  present  time, 
consisted  chiefly  of  three  distinct  kinds  of  work. 
Of  these,  the  very  fundamental  matter  of  classifi- 
cation, which  may  be  termed  systematic  work,  is 
paramount.  This  includes,  besides  giving  the 
names  to  the  different  forms  of  animal  life  and 
describing  them,  the  grouping  together  of  those 
related  in  aggregates  known  as  genera,  families, 
and  orders.  The  second  line  of  development  in 
zoological  research  has  been  what  may  be  termed 
morphological.  It  is  true  that  systematic  work 
deals  somewhat  with  morphology,  especially  the 
obvious  and  external  morphology ;  but  the  term 
morphology  is  largely  associated  with  the  investi- 
gation of  the  structure  and  appearance  of  the 
internal  mechanism  of  animals.  The  third  avenue 
of  work  is  known  as  physiology,  dealing  with 
function,  that  is,  what  the  various  parts  of  the 
animal  mechanism  do  in  the  economy  of  life. 


THE   NATURALIST'S  VISION  363 

The  field  in  which  I  have  endeavored  to  awaken 
interest  by  pointing  out  the  way  seems  a  fitting- 
culmination  of  the  others.  Obviously,  things 
must  be  named,  and  something  of  their  relation- 
ship to  one  another  known.  Hence  dictionaries ; 
and  I  would  liken  such  work  as  deals  with  struc- 
ture and  function  in  detail  to  grammar.  The  study 
of  an  individual,  his  acts,  his  deportment,  his 
goings  and  comings,  his  amusements,  his  inherit- 
ance, his  dispositions,  his  leisure,  may  be  com- 
pared, taking  the  point  of  view  that  I  have  of  the 
others,  to  a  literature  that  it  would  be  impossible 
to  create  without  the  fundamental  basis  afforded 
by  the  studies  of  the  scholars  who  have  made 
the  dictionaries  and  grammars. 

I  wish  it  were  in  my  power  to  picture  with 
vividness,  to  give  an  impression  of  the  conditions 
that  obtain  in  my  tentative  laboratory.  Imagine  a 
room  some  twenty  feet  square,  where  over  a  hun- 
dred birds  are  enjoying  liberty.  Here  are  many 
robins,  wood-thrushes,  and  bluebirds,  the  Balti- 
more and  orchard  oriole ;  bobolinks  fly  about  as 
gayly  as  over  the  grass  fields  in  spring.  There 
are  some  eight  or  nine  of  these  last-named  birds, 
most  of  them  males,  and  for  two-thirds  of  the 
year,  from  January  until  late  in  August,  their 
song  is  incessant.  Here  are  thrushes  from  Eu- 
rope and  the  starling  that  characterizes  that  re- 
gion ;  a  number  of  kinds  of  starlings  from  India, 


364  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

and  some  babbling  thrushes  from  that  country. 
Meadow-larks  form  an  entertaining  group  as  they 
stroll  about  the  floor  examining  with  apparent 
curiosity  and  interest  every  blade  of  grass  of 
the  fresh  turf  supplied  daily.  Song-sparrows 
find  congenial  shelter  in  thickets,  and  blue  jays, 
as  well  as  green  jays  from  Mexico,  add  to  the 
vivacity  of  the  scene.  Cardinals  and  rose- 
breasted  grosbeaks,  as  well  as  their  relative,  the 
blue  grosbeak,  are  all  represented.  Mocking- 
birds, catbirds,  and  thrashers  fly  from  one  tree  to 
another  in  the  room  (for  it  is  large  enough  to 
have  some  six  or  eight  small  trees  reaching  from 
the  floor  to  the  ceiling)  and  seem  to  be  as  full  of 
life  and  song  and  interest  in  affairs,  as  though 
out  of  doors.  Here  is  a  robin  with  a  nest  in  the 
corner  setting  on  her  eggs,  or  a  pair  perhaps 
feeding  young.  In  a  calabash  gourd  at  another 
point  bluebirds  find  a  place  they  like  for  breed- 
ing. It  is  a  heterogeneous  company,  and  the 
picture  is  at  first  confusing,  both  as  to  motion  and 
sound.  As  one  becomes  accustomed  to  the  scene, 
new  details  present  themselves.  A  plover  finds 
to  his  liking  the  vicinity  of  the  shallow  water-tank 
which  serves  as  brook  or  pond  for  these  birds, 
and  rails  peep  out  of  the  grass,  or  run  nimbly 
from  one  tussock  to  another,  pausing  on  the  way 
to  inspect  the  attractions  of  the  feed  dishes. 
Many  of  these  birds  have  been  in  captivity  for 


THE   NATURALIST'S  VISION  365 

six  or  seven  years,  notably  robins,  bluebirds,  gros- 
beaks, and  orioles;  while  the  plover  has  been  a 
member  of  this  society  for  five  years. 

The  student  who  carries  on  the  kind  of  inves- 
tigation here  presented,  should  possess  the  attri- 
butes so  ably  set  forth  by  Professor  Gross  in  his 
book  entitled  "  The  Play  of  Animals."  Speaking 
of  the  attainments  that  he  conceived  desirable  in 
such  a  student,  he  says :  — 

"He  must  harbor  in  his  breast  not  only  two 
souls,  but  more.  He  must  unite  with  a  thorough 
training  in  physiology,  psychology,  and  biology 
the  experience  of  a  traveller,  the  practical  knowl- 
edge of  a  director  of  a  zoological  garden,  and  the 
outdoor  lore  of  a  forester.  And  even  then  he 
could  not  round  up  his  labors  satisfactorily  unless 
he  were  familiar  with  the  trend  of  modern  aes- 
thetics. Indeed,  I  consider  this  last  point  so 
important  that  I  venture  to  affirm  that  none  but 
a  student  of  aesthetics  is  capable  of  writing  the 
psychology  of  animals.  If,  in  this  statement,  I 
seem  to  put  myself  forward  as  a  student  of  aes- 
thetics, I  can  only  say  that  I  hope  for  indulgence 
in  view  of  the  many  shortcomings  which  are  ap- 
parent in  this  effort "  (speaking  of  his  book)  "  on 
the  ground  that  a  versatility  so  comprehensive 
is  unattainable  by  an  ordinary  mortal." 

I  can  but  echo  the  sentiments  here  laid  down ; 
the  observer  and  student  in  this  line  of  work  is  at 


366  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD    LOVER 

best  but  striving.  Patience  combined  with  some 
of  the  requirements  spoken  of  above  may  accom- 
plish much  in  time.  Here  I  feel  that  I  must  call 
attention  to  this  vital  element  in  the  solution  of 
many  of  the  problems.  The  consideration  of  time 
must  be  eliminated.  The  work  must  be  continu- 
ous ;  the  problem  undertaken  must  be  persevered 
in.  The  short  period  of  an  ordinary  human  life 
will  prove  inadequate  to  the  completion.  Such 
work  should  be  laid  down  on  lines  so  carefully  con- 
sidered, and  so  well  provided  for,  that  the  experi- 
ment shall  not  depend  on  a  single  investigator,  but 
rather  on  generations  of  investigators  working  to 
the  same  end.  A  properly  equipped  laboratory- 
must  therefore  include,  as  one  of  its  chief  requisites, 
a  staff  of  several  investigators,  preferably  each  of  a 
different  generation,  so  that  the  possibility  of  the 
interference  with  the  continuity  of  experimenta- 
tion shall  be  minimized.  The  performance  must 
go  on  as  advertised ;  it  must  be  continuous ; 
there  must  be  under-studies ;  for  the  audience 
that  awaits  the  production  of  results  must  not  be 
disappointed.  All  this  has  been  admirably  stated 
by  Professor  C.  O.  Whitman  in  an  essay  dealing 
with  the  subject,  and  I  find  that  the  words  he  uses, 
"  continuity  and  control,"  more  adequately  express 
what  is  desirable  than  any  paraphrase. 

I  think  I  have  expressed  definitely  what  "  con- 
tinuity "  means ;   "  control  "  is  more  obvious.     It 


THE   NATURALIST'S  VISION  367 

means  that  a  laboratory  for  the  kind  of  investiga- 
tions that  has  been  suggested  shall  have  behind 
it  a  financial  backing,  regulated  on  business 
principles,  so  that  an  experiment  once  undertaken 
shall  not  be  abandoned  until  the  question  involved 
is  answered,  pro  or  con. 

I  am  not  attempting  to  present  a  new  idea ;  I 
am  summarizing  the  conclusions  of  such  men 
as  Huxley,  Darwin,  Romanes,  De  Varigny,  Mor- 
gan, Gadow,  Poulton,  and  others.  Perhaps  I  have 
formulated  my  suggestions  in  a  more  concrete 
way,  because  of  the  inspiring  efforts  of  these 
workers  to  attain  a  like  end.  That  is  all. 

But  to  what  end  must  all  work  reach  ?  Is  it 
not  the  human  element  and  interest  that  it  bears 
upon?  In  closing  I  must  again  quote  the  pro- 
phetic words  of  Professor  Gross  :  — 

"  If  the  observations  of  animals  is  to  be  rendered 
fruitful  for  the  unsolved  problems  of  anthropology, 
an  untried  way  must  be  entered  upon ;  attention 
must  be  directed  less  to  particular  resemblances 
to  man,  and  more  to  specific  animal  characteristics. 
Hereby  a  means  may  be  found  for  the  better 
understanding  of  the  animal  part  in  man  than  can 
be  attained  through  the  discussion  of  human  ex- 
amples alone.  Man's  animal  nature  reveals  itself 
in  instinctive  acts,  and  the  latest  investigators  tell 
us  that  man  has  at  least  as  many  instincts  as  the 
brutes  have,  though  most  of  them  have  become 


368  THE   STORY   OF   A   BIRD   LOVER 

unrecognizable  through  the  influence  of  education 
and  tradition.  Therefore  an  accurate  knowledge 
of  the  animal  world,  where  pure  instinct  is  dis- 
played, is  indispensable  in  weighing  the  importance 
of  inherited  impulses  in  men." 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

BOOKS  AND  ARTICLES  REFERRED  TO  IN  "THE  STORY 
OF  A   BIRD   LOVER" 

To  the  readers  who  care  for  the  exact  scientific  names  of  the 
birds  spoken  of  in  this  story,  the  Check  List  of  the  American  Orni- 
thologist Union  will  be  of  service.  The  following  bibliography, 
besides  supplying  the  scientific  nomenclature,  will  fill  in  many 
details  of  the  bird  fauna  of  the  several  regions  treated. 

PARTIAL  LIST  OF  THE  SUMMER  BIRDS  OF  KANAWHA  COUNTY. 
WEST  VIRGINIA,  W.  [E.]  D.  Scott.  Proceedings  Boston 
Society  Natural  History,  Vol.  XV,  p.  219,  Oct.  2,  1872. 

ON  ALBINISM,  AND  OTHER  NOTES  FROM  NEW  JERSEY,  W.  E.  D. 
Scott.  The  Country,  Vol.  I,  p.  43,  Nov.  17,  1877. 

RARE  OCCURRENCES  IN  SOUTHERN  NEW  JERSEY,  W.  E.  D.  Scott. 
The  Country,  Vol.  I,  p.  79,  Dec.  8,  1877. 

NOTES  FROM  CENTRAL  NEW  YORK,  W.  E.  D.  Scott.  The  Coun- 
try, Vol.  I,  p.  115,  Dec.  29,  1877. 

WINTER  NOTES  ABOUT  PRINCETON,  W.  E.  D.  Scott.  The  Coun- 
try, Vol.  I,  pp.  164,  196,  212,  229,  244,  January  to  April,  1878. 

NOTES  FROM  ITHACA,  NEW  YORK,  W.  E.  D.  Scott.  The  Country, 
Vol.  I,  p.  165,  Jan.  19,  1878. 

NOTES  ON  SOME  OF  THE  RARER  BIRDS  ABOUT  PRINCETON,  NEW 
JERSEY,  W.  E.  D.  Scott.  The  Country,  Vol.  I,  p.  354,  April  13, 
1878  ;  Vol.  II,  p.  9,  April  27,  1878. 

BIRDS  ABOUT  DENVER,  COLORADO,  W.  E.  D.  Scott.  The  Country, 
Vol.  II,  p.  136,  June  22,  1878. 

A  MOUNTAIN  DRIVE,  W.  E.  D.  Scott.  The  Country,  Vol.  II, 
pp.  152,  168,  1878. 

SOME  BIRDS  BREEDING  ABOUT  THE  TWIN  LAKES,  COLORADO, 
W.  E.  D.  Scott.  The  Country,  July  20,  1878. 

LATE  FALL  AND  WINTER  NOTES  ON  SOME  BIRDS  OBSERVED  IN 
THE  VICINITY  OF  PRINCETON,  NEW  JERSEY,  W.  E.  D.  Scott. 
2B  369 


370 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Bulletin  of  the  Nuttall  Ornithological  Club,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  81-86, 

April,  1879. 
NOTES  ON  BIRDS   OBSERVED  AT   TWIN   LAKES,  LAKE  COUNTY, 

COLORADO,  W.  E.  D.  Scott.    Bull.  Nutt.  Orn.  Club,  Vol.  IV, 

pp.  90-96,  April,  1879. 
NOTES  ON  BIRDS  OBSERVED  DURING  THE  SPRING  MIGRATION  IN 

WESTERN  MISSOURI,  W.  E.  D.  Scott.    BulL  Nutt.  Orn.  Club, 

Vol.  IV,  pp.  139-147,  July,  1879. 
NOTES  ON   BIRDS   OBSERVED   AT   LONG  BEACH,  NEW   JERSEY, 

W.  E.  D.  Scott.    BulL  Nutt.  Orn.  Club,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  222-228, 

October,  1879. 
ON  BIRDS  OBSERVED  IN  SUMTER,  LEVY,  AND  HILLSBORO  COUNTIES, 

FLORIDA,  W.  E.  D.  Scott.    Bull.  Nutt.  Orn.  Club,  Vol.  VI, 

pp.  14-21,  January,  1881. 
SOME  OBSERVATIONS  ON  THE  MIGRATION  OF  BIRDS,  W.  E.  D. 

Scott.     Bull.   Nutt.   Orn.   Club,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  97-100,  April, 

1881. 
ON  THE  BREEDING  HABITS  OF  SOME  ARIZONA  BIRDS,  W.  E.  D. 

Scott.     The  Auk,  Vol.  II. 

First  Paper.     Icterus  par -isorum,  pp.  1-7,  January,  1885. 
Second  Paper.     Icterus  cucullatus,  pp.  159-165,  April,  1885. 
Third  Paper.     Phainopepla  nitens,  pp.  242-246,  July,  1885. 
Fourth  Paper.     Vireo  mcinior,  pp.  321-326,  October,  1885. 
Fifth   Paper.      Aphelocoma  sieberii  arizona,  Peuccea  ruficeps  bou- 

cardi,  Lophophanes  ivolweberi.     The  Auk,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  81-86, 

1886. 
WINTER  MOUNTAIN  NOTES  FROM  SOUTHERN  ARIZONA,  W.  E.  D. 

Scott.     Auk,  Vol.  II,  pp.  172-174,  April,  1885. 
EARLY  SPRING  NOTES  FROM  THE  MOUNTAINS  OF  SOUTHERN  ARI- 
ZONA, W.  E.  D.  Scott.    Auk,  Vol.  II,  pp.  348-356,  October,  1885. 
ON  THE  AVI-FAUNA  OF  PINAL  COUNTY,  WITH  REMARKS  ON  SOME 

BIRDS    OF    PlMA    AND    GlLA    COUNTIES,    ARIZONA,   W.    E.    D. 

Scott,  with  annotations  by  J.  A.  Allen.    Auk,  Vol.  Ill,  with 
map.    I,  pp.  249-258;  II,  pp.  283-289;  III,  pp.  42i-432>  l886- 

IV.  Auk,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  16-24 ;  V,  pp.  196-205, 1887.    VI.    Auk, 

V,  pp.  29-36;  VII,  pp.  159-168,  1888. 

THE  PRESENT  CONDITION  OF  SOME  OF  THE  BIRD  ROOKERIES  OF 
THE  GULF  COAST  OF  FLORIDA,  W.  E.  D.  Scott.  Three  papers. 
Auk,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  135-141  ;  213-222  ;  273-284,  1887. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  371 

SOME  RARE  FLORIDA  BIRDS,  W.  E.  D.  Scott.    Auk,  Vol.  IV,  pp. 

i33-'35>  1887. 
A  SUMMARY  OF  OBSERVATIONS  ON  THE  BIRDS  OF  THE  GULF  COAST 

OF  FLORIDA,  W.  E.  D.  Scott.     Auk,  Vol.  V,  pp.  373~379>  '888. 

Auk,  Vol.  VI,  pp.  13-18;   152-160;  245-252;  319-326,  1889. 

Auk,  Vol.  VII,  pp.  14-22;  114-120,  1890. 
A  SECOND  SPECIMEN  OF  CORY'S  BITTERN  (Botaurus  neoxenus), 

W.  E.  D.  Scott.     Auk,  Vol.  VI,  pp.  317-318,  1889. 
ON  THE  SPECIFIC  IDENTITY  OF  BUTEO  BRACHYURUS  AND  BUTEO 

FULIGINOSUS,   with   additional  records  of  their  occurrence  in 

Florida,  W.  E.  D.  Scott.    Auk,  Vol.  VI,  pp.  243-245,  1889. 
SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES  FROM  THE  GULF  COAST  OF  FLORIDA,  with 

a  description  of  a  new  species  of  marsh  wren,  W.  E.  D;  Scott. 

Auk,  Vol.  V,  pp.  183-188,  1888. 
DESCRIPTION  OF  A  NEW  SUB-SPECIES  OF  WILD  TURKEY,  W.  E.  D. 

Scott.    Auk,  Vol.  VII,  pp.  376-377,  1890. 
AN  ACCOUNT  OF  FLAMINGOES  (Phcenicopterus  rubcr)  OBSERVED 

IN  THE  VICINITY  OF  CAPE  SABLE,  FLORIDA,  W.  E.  D.  Scott. 

Auk,  Vol.  VII,  pp.  222-226,  1890. 
Two  SPECIES  OF  SWALLOW  NEW  TO  NORTH  AMERICA,  W.  E.  D. 

Scott.    Auk,  Vol.  VII,  pp.  264,  265,  1890. 
ON  BIRDS  OBSERVED  AT  THE  DRY  TORTUGAS,  FLORIDA,  DURING 

PARTS  OF  MARCH  AND  APRIL,  1890,  W.  E.  D.  Scott.    Auk, 

Vol.  VII,  pp.  301-314,  with  map,  1890. 
A  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  ADULT  MALE  OF  BOTAURUS  NEOXENUS 

(Cory),  with  additional  notes  on  the  species,  W.  E.  D.  Scott. 

Auk,  Vol.  IX,  pp.  141-142,  1892. 
NOTES   ON   THE   BIRDS  OF  THE   CALOOSAHATCHEE  REGION  OF 

FLORIDA,  W.  E.  D.  Scott.     Auk,  Vol.  IX,  pp.  209-218,  1892. 
OBSERVATIONS  ON  THE  BIRDS  OF  JAMAICA,  WEST  INDIES,  W.  E.  D. 

Scott. 

I.  Notes  on  the  Habits  of  the  Yellow-billed  Tropic  Bird  (Phae- 

ton flavirostris.)     Auk,  Vol.  VIII,  pp.  349-356,  1891. 

II.  A  List  of  Birds  recorded  from  the  Island,  with  annotations. 
Seven  Papers.     Auk,  Vol.  VIII,  pp.  353-365,  1891.     Auk,  Vol.  IX, 

pp.  9-15;   120-129;  273-277;  369-375>   l892-    Auki  Vol.  X, 
pp.  177-181 ;  339-342,  1893. 

BIRD  STUDIES:  AN  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  LAND  BIRDS  OF  EASTERN 
NORTH  AMERICA,  William  E.  D.  Scott,  p.  363.     With  many 


372  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

full-page  illustrations  and  text  cuts;  all  from  original  photo- 
graphs. G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons.  New  York,  1898. 

DATA  ON  SONG  IN  BIRDS.  OBSERVATIONS  ON  THE  SONG  OF 
BALTIMORE  ORIOLES  IN  CAPTIVITY,  William  E.  D.  Scott. 
Science,  N.  S.,  Vol.  XIV,  No.  353,  pp.  522-526,  October  4,  1901. 

DATA  ON  SONG  IN  BIRDS:  THE  ACQUISITION  OF  NEW  SONGS, 
William  E.  D.  Scott.  Science,  N.  S.,  Vol.  XV,  No.  370,  pp. 
178-181,  January  31,  1902. 

INSTINCT  IN  SONG  BIRDS.  METHOD  OF  BREEDING  IN  HAND- 
REARED  ROBINS  (Merula  migratoria),  William  E.  D.  Scott. 
Science,  N.  S.,  Vol.  XVI,  No.  393,  pp.  70-71,  July  n,  1902. 


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Scott,  W.E.D.  Sl|3 

The  story  of  a 
bird  lover. 


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